Clarity
by Fangirling all over the place
Summary: Full (better) summary inside: Seto has had it with his life when an odd set of circumstances creates repeated encounters with the same girl. Over time they form a bond and he has to decide if he is willing to allow a new person into he and his brother's life.
1. When First We Met

Full Summary: A fairly depressed and stressed out Seto Kaiba has just about had it with all that life has handed him so far. An odd set of circumstances leads him to repeated encounters with the same girl. She is sensitive, perceptive, intelligent and just about anything you would want or expect from a female lead. She also happens to have some secrets and a bit of a wild streak, which could either get in the way of Seto getting to know her, or could come in handy. Despite her attempts to help Seto battle old ghosts that keep cropping up as well as plenty of new ones, Seto won't allow himself to accept a new person into his life so easily.

Warnings: This story has been rated M for future chapters due to some strong language, sexual situations, underage drinking, drug use, references to trigger warnings such as sexual abuse, physical abuse and mental wear-and-tear. Any "adult scenes" will likely be written off-site and linked, however it is possible that some chapters may incorporate sex scenes which will be noted prior to the chapter's start including a link off-site where the content can be read, and thus allowing for you to opt out of reading them. All of the above will be sprinkled throughout, but we decided to give you advanced warning so it won't come as a shock if you are one of our more sensitive readers.

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! nor do we own the items or settings where this story takes place. All we own is the idea for this nifty little story and our original characters. Please don't sue, as all you will get from us is a stick of gum and two very disobedient cats who will keep you up all night.

_**Title: Clarity**_  
_**Chapter 1: When First We Met**_  
_**Chapter Written By: Peggi, Kit and Resa**_

* * *

It had been another stressful, long, difficult Friday for the 19 year old CEO, and Seto mostly just wanted to have some sort of an escape. As he'd gotten older, his days had pretty much started to resemble one another. Wake up in the morning alone, drink coffee while his younger sibling ate breakfast, go to work, come home, do more work, sometimes manage to force down some dinner with Mokuba, and then try to unwind. Usually unwinding meant drinking, since alcohol was one of the few things that could slow his active mind down enough to relax and sometimes fall asleep. It also meant nasty hangovers in the morning and probably caused his lack of appetite, but not much else helped him. He had been in this routine for over a year, and in a lot of ways he resented himself for it. Sometimes, he worried he would become just like the man who had adopted he and Mokuba, but his brother assured him many times that this wasn't the case. He continued to get trashed almost nightly, come home sick, and occasionally pass out in the bathroom.

One of the few places he could go and drink without a cut-off and where smoking was allowed was at a local strip club, and as long as he sat in the back corner, he'd never had an issue there. No one seemed to look twice, which was also nice, because avoiding his fans was also a priority when going out in public. Being in charge of one of the biggest companies responsible for gaming technology meant lots of cameras, requests for autographs, constant harassment and extra headaches. So far, tonight, he'd been left in peace. One of the servers noticed his glass was empty and came over, replacing it with another glass of sake, and walked off without a word. He was grateful.

A couple of hours into his night out, his vision was starting to get a bit fuzzy, and he figured it would be time to cut himself off soon. He lit up a cigarette and leaned back against the wall behind him, instantly feeling the combination of nicotine and alcohol affecting him. As he closed his eyes to enjoy the semi-lightheaded feeling he heard a voice that instantly grabbed his attention and boiled his blood. Joey Wheeler. He had just walked in, a starry-eyed Yugi and uncomfortable looking Tea following behind him. Tristan had led the group and was practically drooling over the girls who were on stage, and Joey had his arm draped over some dark-haired girl's shoulders. Seto laughed to himself, insulting Joey for being an idiot and bringing his date to a strip club. It seemed that just about every time he saw the blonde, he had a different girl hanging all over him, usually fake-looking and possibly paid to be there. At least this one was drop-dead gorgeous, which made Seto wonder how the hell a mutt like Joey could even approach her.

After a long day, the last thing he wanted was for Joey to notice him, so he rushed to finish what was left in his glass, and thought about all of the reasons he couldn't stand the other boy. He remembered how annoying he'd been in school, how pushy, how obnoxious. He was so busy steaming over him that he didn't realize he'd dropped ashes from his lit cigarette onto his other hand, and it burned him. He jumped from the sudden, sharp pain, and yelped a little bit, quickly brushing the ashes off. No one seemed to hear or notice, so he put the cigarette out in the ash tray and began to stand. Apparently, he'd been spotted. He could see the blonde boy walking up to him, pulling his date behind him, Tristan willingly following, and Tea and Yugi staying put with aggravated looks directed at their friend.

Seto was not in the mood to deal with Joey, but then again, he never really was. He watched out of the corner of his eye as they approached, desperately trying to find an exit he could make it to before he was reached. Unfortunately, the downfall of sitting in the corner was that he was just that; cornered.

Joey had a smirk on his face as he started the typical back-and-forths, "oh hey, it's rich boy! Didn't see ya all the way over here in your dark little corner, drinking all by yourself!"

Seto tried to ignore him, but he and Tristan had him blocked in, and he wasn't about to not stand his ground, "I guess someone needs to call animal control. I'm pretty sure there's a rule against pets in the strip club, Wheeler."

"Yeah, you're just mad because you're over here all by yourself and I have a whole group of friends to hang with. I figured you'd have bought some for yourself by now, though. Or is no amount of money worth hanging out with ya?" Joey laughed, feeling like he'd won.

As Joey felt triumphant, he turned to walk away, but Seto wasn't going to let him have the last word, "you'd know all about paying for friends, wouldn't you? How much did that one run you?"

The girl who Joey had been dragging around by the wrist broke free and turned around, arms crossed, glaring at Seto. He almost dared her to challenge him with the mood he was in, but she didn't. Joey turned to come to her defense, but she just made a disgusted face at Seto.

"Rude," she directed at him, grabbing Joey and Tristan and dragging them both back to the other two.

After a few seconds of cooling down, Seto felt like he had enough balance to leave without stumbling all over himself, and took that opportunity to get out before Joey tried arguing with him again. He had just paid his tab and was headed back for the door, which was in the general direction of the people he wanted to avoid, when he heard the annoying headache-causing blonde boy call out again to him.

"Sorry, Kaiba. You know I like to kid with ya! Why don't you come on over here and we'll let you buy us a drink, for insulting a lady?"

Seto narrowed his eyes as he turned to face him, "hn, I'd sooner set myself on fire than sit anywhere near you, willingly."

"Ya see, I try to be nice and this is how you repay me!" Seto was now facing Joey, watching as Tea put her face in her hands in avoidance and Yugi tugged on his sleeve to try and get him to stop, "it's no wonder no one likes you except Mokuba, and with your attitude probably not for long! You're nothin but a snobby loser with no friends and a brother who probably wishes Noah got out of the virtual world instead of you! You're nothing but an ass!"

Seto really held himself together well, but bringing his younger brother into it and digging up bad memories wasn't the way to keep his anger inside. He felt his face turning red from anger, and he knew that his words were already slurring, and he couldn't think of anything too creative to say back to him. He couldn't just stand there like a scared little kid who was being bullied, so he decided to do the only other thing he could think of. He stepped closer to Joey and decided to take a swing at him, hoping that with the alcohol-induced double vision he was aiming for the right Joey. Unfortunately, despite his accuracy, Joey was more agile since he hadn't been drinking, and laughed as he stood up, grabbing Seto's wrist. Yugi was instantly trying to stand in between the two, but neither boy wanted him in the middle of it.

"Just stop guys! Not here! Joey, just let it go!"

Like hell was he going to let it go. He took one hard swing at Seto's face, one that would've likely hurt a lot more if alcohol hadn't numbed his whole body already. As Seto started to fall to the floor, he grabbed Joey's wrist, trying to at least take him down too, but the blonde easily pulled away, shoving him hard into a table. A bouncer tried to break through the circle of people who were now watching the fight, no one trying to help, other than Yugi who Joey just shoved away. Standing up and very dizzy, Seto did the only thing he could think of and tried to wrestle Joey to the floor, which didn't work either, and he ended up falling flat on his face, feeling himself being kicked once in the side. He saw the bouncer break through the crowd of people but before he managed to make it there, he heard the sound of skin-to-skin contact, like someone had been hit pretty hard. He couldn't tell if Joey had hit him again, and as he tried to stand, he realized what happened. The girl Joey had brought with him had apparently slapped him, and he was just staring at her, stunned.

"Stop it! Just cut it the hell out, Joey!" she screamed in his face.

The bouncer helped Seto up the rest of the way, and before anything could be said, he stormed out, stumbling the last few steps as he walked out the door. He felt humiliated and angry, kicking a trash can as he walked to the parking lot. He reached into his pocket for his mobile phone, realizing it must've fallen out during the fight, and he wasn't about to go back inside for it. He just wanted to sit down for a few minutes, and then he would try to figure out how to call for a ride. He walked across the parking lot, sitting on the curb and putting his face in his hands. He was frustrated, sick to his stomach, and the pain was starting to set in. His eyes started stinging and he realized he was crying, and he couldn't stop at that point. No one was in the parking lot to see, luckily, because he knew he wouldn't be able to stop himself. He'd had it with everything.

He was tired of run-ins with people he couldn't stand, tired of feeling so stressed out each day, tired of running a company, tired of having to be a parent to Mokuba even though he loved him. It was starting to be too much for just one person, with not enough hours in the day. He could hear footfalls over the sound of his sobbing, and held his breath, hoping that whoever it was wouldn't notice. With the sort of luck he had, it was probably Joey, there to try and humiliate him even more, or maybe even finish the fight. He wanted to look up, mostly for his own safety, but couldn't think of a clever enough way to wipe the tears off of his face without it being obvious that he'd been crying. He heard movement as someone sat next to him, and the moment he felt a hand rubbing his back, his head snapped up.

"Are you okay?" it was Joey's date, and she was alone.

He quickly wiped the tears from his face, changing his poor-me expression to his usual cold stare, "I'm fine."

"Yeah," she laughed "you look totally fine.

"I am. Just leave me alone. Go back to your date. I don't need you here, patronizing me."

She just smiled warmly at him, even as he pulled away from her so that she wasn't touching him anymore, "fine, bleed all over yourself. See if I care. I'm not patronizing, by the way. I'm sure you're fully capable of taking care of yourself, but it just looks like you can use some help. Plus, there's no way you're driving yourself home. You better call a cab."

She stood and began to walk off, and Seto pulled himself up, staggering a bit, "do you have a phone?"

She stopped and turned, a confused look on her face, and he realized he was slurring so badly she probably didn't understand him, so he tried again, much slower the second time, "a phone, do you have one I could use? I need to call for a ride."

"Oh, no sorry. I didn't bring it. I drove myself, though. I can drop you off somewhere, if you want. I don't mind. I'm not sticking around here anyway. Joey's in there complaining and I don't feel like dealing with that drama."

Seto wanted to argue, but he was too tired and too dizzy to complain. He just nodded, and with his eyes half-closed, he let her lead him to her car. He sat in the passenger seat, and for the first few minutes he directed her, but the next thing he knew, she was standing outside the passenger seat, shaking him awake. He didn't remember falling asleep, or drooling all over himself, for that matter, but apparently he had.

"Oh. Now you wake up," she sounded very sarcastic and had a slightly irritated expression on her face.

He groaned, pulling himself out of the car, but then as he looked around he had a very confused look on his face. She recognized it right away.

"Mhm, this is what happens when you fall asleep directing me to _your_ house. You end up at _mine_ so I can at least fix up your face and call you a cab."

At least she was nice enough to help him inside, and the second they got into the bathroom he sat down on the floor in front of the toilet, in case he was going to throw up. Given his track record for each night after drinking, that was extremely likely. He watched her pull a box out from under the sink, realizing it was some type of first-aid kit. He leaned his head back, resting it against the wall behind him, and closed his eyes. He hated people treating him like a child, and he just wanted her to hurry up so he could call for a ride and get away from her. She would probably run back to Joey, laughing about how pathetic he'd been, how he'd been crying in the parking lot and couldn't even tend to his own wounds. He opened an eye when he heard water running, and watched as she wet and rung out a wash cloth. She gently turned his face to look at him, wiping away the blood.

He hadn't realized he'd been bleeding so much, as he watched it come off on the wash cloth, and suddenly wondered just how bad he looked. He knew he'd probably feel miserable the next day. He glared at her the entire time she was tending to him, not even taking his eyes off of her when she worked on his forehead, which he didn't even know had been injured. He had a sharp pain in his stomach, which wasn't anything unusual, but it caused him to wince a little bit. Her slightly irritated look instantly changed and she looked apologetic.

"I'm so sorry, did I hurt you? I'm trying to be careful."

"No. It wasn't you."

He tried to avoid conversation and focused on what she was doing rather than the stomach pain. He looked this girl over, not understanding what she'd been doing with Joey in the first place. He was rough around the edges, not very smart, and in his opinion, not much of a looker. The girl in front of him was actually very pretty, definitely not Japanese, but had long silky dark hair and bright green eyes. She clearly didn't go out in the sun often, because her complexion looked similar to his. Very fair and almost perfect. He suddenly wondered if she had naturally almost black hair, or if it was dyed. Then he suddenly wondered why he was wondering about her hair. He hadn't realized she was finished with him, and when he noticed her giving him an odd look, he realized he must've been blushing slightly. He just put his typical glare back on, hoping she'd think it was just the alcohol making him a little bit red. She seemed to ignore it.

"Can I go now?" he asked, impatiently.

She raised an eyebrow at him, "in a few minutes. You might want to stay here for a bit."

She stood and grabbed a plastic cup out of a bag, and he watched her, wondering what she was doing. She put the first-aid box away and pulled out some mouth wash from under the sink. Before she could even open it, he realized that for whatever reason she was able to, she must've known he was about to throw up, because he barely had time to lift the lid before he did. She wet another wash cloth and placed that and the cup on the side of the sink for him.

"Need me in here or do you want some alone time?"

He glared at her in return, and she held her hands up in surrender, walking out of the bathroom and closing the door. His stomach felt like it had completely flipped, and he knew he was going to be sick for a good while. He felt like crying again, at that point, but his side hurt too much and he was afraid to make it worse. It was already throbbing from his retching, and he wanted to just die right there on the bathroom floor.

Seto remembered getting sick a few more times, he remembered placing the cool wash cloth on his face and having used the mouth wash, but he didn't remember falling asleep. He heard a knock at the door, and he grumbled as it cracked open. He was still dizzy, still feeling sick, and now there was this girl who he wished would just go away, standing in the doorway.

"Do you want me to call a cab for you now?"

"Just go away!" he almost yelled at her, making his head hurt worse.

She just laughed at him, "so you'll be sleeping on my bathroom floor then?"

Had a sober version of himself been watching this all take place, he'd have beaten drunk Seto to a bloody pulp, but unfortunately, trashed Seto clearly had no manners and didn't quite give a shit about appearances. He just glared at her, willing her away. Really, though, it was _her_ bathroom, so he probably should've been a bit nicer. But of course, Seto Kaiba does not do 'nice'. He just received a little bit of a giggle, followed by her turning the light off, a nightlight coming on as soon as it was dark, and she closed the door.

"I'll be in my room down the hall if you need anything," she said just loudly enough for him to hear, before walking off.

Seto mumbled slurred swear words at her, laying his head on his arms, which were resting on the side of the bathtub. He managed to fall asleep at some point, waking when he shifted to get more comfortable, and realized he wasn't in his own bathroom. He was still pretty drunk, but he did remember at least where he was after a few seconds of thinking. His head was pounding and he could hear his own heartbeat. He reached for the lightswitch where he'd seen it before, and instantly regretted it when the bright light was like looking into the sun. He felt nauseated again, but figured he wouldn't get sick just yet. He rummaged through the medicine cabinet, hoping to find some Aspirin. He didn't find any, and took a few sips of water from the sink.

He didn't want to pester the girl who was nice enough to take care of him, but his head hurt so bad he really didn't care. He stumbled through the house, walking into a couple of walls, before he finally found the bedroom. It was clearly still night outside, and the moonlight was shining in through the window.

"Hey," he called out, a bit more loudly than he'd meant to.

The girl who was sound asleep jumped, and even in the dark he could see on her face that she was trying to catch up to what was going on and why there was a stranger in her room.

"What?" she turned onto her back, putting a pillow on her face.

He could tell she was annoyed, so he walked over to the bed and sat down next to her, pulling the pillow off of her face, "hey I needed something."

She rubbed her eyes, clearly trying to wake up enough to be able to help him out, and he waited as patiently as he possibly could, before finally asking.

"Do you have Aspirin?"

She nodded, eyes half-closed, looking like she was about to get out of bed to go get some for him, when he felt extremely dizzy again, almost like the room was spinning. He was pretty sure if he tried to stand he would pass out, and with no regard for her personal space, he casually just laid down next to her, and she tried to pull away. Unfortunately for her, he snuggled up to her in his drunken state, a move that he'd probably kill himself for the next day, and she just sighed heavily. Crossing her arms and giving up, she pulled the blanket back over herself, thinking for a few seconds, before deciding to cover him as well.

"You're an awful lot of trouble, you know."

As he fell back asleep, all she heard was a really quiet "mhm" and then heavy breathing. She just laid there, staring at the ceiling, swearing to never, _ever_ try and help a wasted stranger out again. Extremely uncomfortable with another person's presence in her bed, she just laid there, awake, hoping that he was a morning person so that she could get rid of him early enough to take a nap.

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Kit: We hope you enjoyed chapter 1 as much as we enjoyed writing it! We promise we're not trying to rush any friendshippy feelings just yet, and that we will keep everybody's favorite CEO hottie in character...at least while sober! If you liked it, please review! We love feedback!

Seto: So, if they don't review will you stop writing this nonsense?

Peggi: No way! We'll just take longer to post new chapters because we love withholding when we don't get our way!

Resa: Roleplay turned fanfic stories are AWESOME! This was super fun to write with these two awesomesauce chicks!

Peggi: Yuhs, so puhleeze review and we'll have the next chapter up a whole lot faster!


	2. Start of Something New

Quick Recap: Drunken Seto gets into a fight (and loses) at a strip club with Joey and is taken home and tended to by a gorgeous stranger who is slightly irritated by his rude behavior. He ends up falling asleep snuggled up to her in the middle of the night, leaving her aggravated but trying to be patient with him.

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! nor do we own the items or settings where this story takes place. All we own is the idea for this nifty little story and our original characters. Please don't sue, as all you will get from us is empty candy wrappers and half a bottle of Dr. Pepper.

_**Title: Clarity**_  
_**Chapter 2: Start of Something New**_  
_**Chapter Written By: Peggi and Resa**_

* * *

The next morning, Seto noticed right away that something was different. He didn't remember much about the night before, and what he did remember was all in bits and pieces. He opened his eyes, realizing that there was a person laying next to him, and he sighed with relief when he realized he was still dressed. He slowly lifted his arm, realizing he was practically laying on top of the other person, and desperately tried to remember how exactly he ended up in her bed. He scanned his memory for anything, even her name, but got almost nothing. He remembered getting completely trashed and then running into Joey. That was right, she had been out on a date with Joey. So then why was he snuggled up next to her, arm holding on to her, face buried in her neck? He was pretty positive that whatever happened, he hadn't had sex with her, but he wanted to try and find a way home before she woke up. He wasn't really sure what the protocol for these things was, considering that he'd never woken up in a strange woman's bed before.

He saw his shoes next to the bed and quietly picked them up, slipping them on as he attempted to sneak out, but when he looked back to make sure he hadn't uncovered her, there she was. Wide awake. Giving him a really pissed off look. He froze in the doorway, not quite sure what was expected of him at that point, but he was caught. She sat up, crossed her arms and just glared at him from the bed. He almost felt scolded, but didn't allow her to know that he was uncomfortable.

"Just planning on taking off, then?" she asked dryly.

He knew he reeked of alcohol and cigarettes, his hair was a mess, and he was pretty sure he'd gotten into a fight with Joey and his face had been messed up, but he crossed his arms and tried not to look too intimidated. In all honesty, he felt vulnerable. He was hungover, his whole body ached, he was in a stranger's house, and he'd just woken up in a situation he wasn't happy about. He thought he played it off well, though.

"I didn't want to wake you," he was going to walk out but suddenly he had a realization that if he'd made a fool out of himself, chances are, if he was rude to this girl, he'd pay for it later in the media. He turned back around, "by the way, I don't believe I got your name."

"Sephy. And I heard Joey call you Kaiba? If you want to take a shower while your ride is on their way, you're welcome to."

He could tell she was still a bit irritated but he didn't remember why. If they'd fooled around the night before or he'd tried showing off by making promises he couldn't keep, she might've gotten her feelings hurt. His heart sank at the thought that someone who clearly had been nice to him might've been hurt by him. He tried to think quickly of what he could do or say to ensure that there wasn't a problem.

"That sounds like a good idea. Thank you, by the way. I don't remember much about last night, but clearly you took care of me, and I'm appreciative. _Whatever_ happened, I'm grateful you helped me."

She just raised an eyebrow at him and let her arms fall to her sides and sighed, "it's fine. You didn't do much. You complained at me and yelled at me, fell asleep in my bathroom and told me to get out of my own bathroom, and then woke me up in the middle of the night about your headache and then fell asleep practically on top of me. Nothing I can't handle."

For a moment, he had a horrified look on his face, feeling terrible about having put her out like that, "I have a feeling I won't be drinking in public for a while after this. Listen, why don't I make this up to you. I can take you out to dinner, tonight or tomorrow, whatever is best for you." He saw her thinking about it for a few moments, and figured he should add, "just a way to thank you for all of your trouble, and of course discretion about all of this."

She gave him a bit of a confused look, but shrugged her shoulders, "sounds good. Tonight's fine. It isn't like I have anything going on, really. Let me show you where the phone is."

Stretching one last time, Sephy threw the covers off of her and stood. She'd been wearing a tank top and baggy pajama bottoms, and Seto suddenly realized how much he wanted to wear something more comfortable too. He had worn the same black shirt and black pants to sleep that he'd worn to the club, and they were very uncomfortable. He was just glad he hadn't decided to wear his belts and buckles or his white coat, which would've made him even more uncomfortable while sleeping. He followed her out of the bedroom and down another hallway, and she picked up and handed him a phone, walking into the kitchen. He dialed a number and walked into another room. It rang a few times before Mokuba answered.

"Hello?" Mokuba had a mouth full of food.

"Mokuba, it's me. Listen, I need Roland to come pick me up."

"Seto, are you okay? I called you so many times last night! You never picked up! I was worried!"

"I'm fine, Mokuba. I had a little too much to drink and Joey was there and there was a fight, look, just tell Roland I need a ride."

"Sure thing, Seto. I'm glad you're okay. So, what's the address?"

Crap. He hadn't thought about that. He walked back into the kitchen to see Sephy making coffee.

"I need your address."

Sephy looked up and smiled, "oh, yeah I didn't think of that. It's on Halloway, the very last house, the same street as Rathie's Shop."

Seto nodded and walked back off to let his brother know where to have Roland go. Flipping the button on the coffee maker, Sephy could hear him setting the phone down and the bathroom door closing. She bit her lower lip and thought really hard for a moment. She knew she recognized this guy from somewhere. She hadn't noticed it the night before, but he looked _really_ familiar, she just couldn't figure out from where. Maybe he knew her, and that's why he made a point to mention that he wanted discretion about what had happened. If she couldn't figure it out, she'd just ask Joey the next time she saw him. She suddenly realized she should probably call him later and apologize for interfering with the fight. She hadn't meant to hurt him, if she had, but she didn't want him getting himself arrested, and she knew he had an awful temper, so it was the best way to get his attention.

Once in the bathroom, Seto looked at his face in the mirror. He had a small cut on his forehead, just above his eyebrow, and the corner of his lip was bruised and had a cut on it. He figured most of the blood had come from the inside of his mouth, which was still pretty sore. His teeth must've dug into the inside of his lip and cheek when Joey had hit him, and it had caused swelling there, too. He looked like a complete mess, and sighing, he slowly lifted his shirt over his head. It smelled like the strip club mixed with sweat, and he wished he had something else to wear after he showered. It almost wasn't worth the shower at all. He looked down at his rib-cage, and his entire side was a dark blue. He knew it would probably be completely black by the evening, once the bruise had time to set.

He'd never admit it, but he was grateful for the intervention Sephy had given him. He could remember the bits and pieces to give him a clear picture of what had happened. Removing his pants and placing them with his shirt on an empty towel bar, he turned the water on and stepped under as it heated up. He remembered just before Joey had showed up, grateful to just be out of his head for a few minutes. Then, that dog had to show up and ruin his peaceful mood. Joey had very obviously started it, but Seto still felt a little bad that he had ruined Sephy's night. It was a wonder she cared enough to take care of him, especially if he was really that much trouble. He was just grateful that he hadn't ended up falling asleep in the parking lot and being mugged, or aimlessly wandering around.

The shower was quick, and once he was satisfied he was clean enough, Seto turned the water off and dried himself off, grumbling to himself as he put his clothes back on. He'd definitely take another, much longer shower once he got home, but this would do just to wake him up. He stepped out of the bathroom and walked into the kitchen to see Sephy sitting at the table reading the paper and sipping on some coffee. She didn't take her eyes off of the paper while she spoke to him.

"Another cup's on the counter, sugar and all that if you need it."

He poured a cup and added a small amount of sugar, sitting down and watching her as she read. She must've read something funny because she giggled a bit, and he figured she probably was reading a comic strip, until she set it down to take another sip of coffee. She was apparently reading the stocks section, and he was suddenly curious.

"Find something amusing?"

"Hmm? Oh, kinda. Just laughing about this company I used to invest in, their numbers just dropped days after I moved my stocks into other companies. A friend of mine made fun of me for it and said I'd regret it. Just feels like a win, is all."

He was a little impressed that she even had stocks, but left it alone. The rest of the coffee-drinking was done in silence, and it wasn't long before there was a knock at the door.

"That'll be my ride. Again, thank you for all of your help and I'll just leave a phone number where you can reach me in case you need to cancel dinner. Otherwise, I'll pick you up at six."

Sephy nodded and stood up, walking to the cabinet and rummaging through for a pen and paper. After he'd left his information he quickly left, grateful to be out of that house, away from that situation, and one step closer to some clean clothes. Sephy had been very nice to him, but being social was not something he really enjoyed, and after an embarrassing night, he just wanted to forget ever meeting her. The drive to the mansion wasn't terribly long and he rushed inside. Mokuba was in the living room, bowl of cereal in his lap, cartoons on the TV. He barely acknowledged his brother as he walked past him.

"Soooo," Mokuba didn't look away from the screen in front of him "you stayed over with a _girl, _huh?"

Seto was instantly irritated by his accusing tone, "yes, she helped me last night after I got into a fight with that stupid Wheeler, and we're taking her to dinner tonight and then we can just forget this whole thing ever happened."

Mokuba just laughed and took another bite of cereal. Seto was used to his brother prying, but he was in no mood to joke around with him. He just wanted to get a much longer shower and put on some clean clothes. He walked briskly up the staircase, closing his bedroom door behind him, and removed his clothes in just a few swift movements. He took a lot longer this time in the shower, completely scrubbing himself down. He kept feeling his anger coursing through him, remembering his encounter with Joey. Every last detail more clear to him now than it had been earlier. That stupid smirk on the mutt's face while he started in with his insults, how proud he looked to be surrounded by his friends. Seto wasn't exactly friends with Yugi, but on some level, he did respect the guy. He couldn't understand for the life of him why he would associate with people like Joey. Téa, he understood. She didn't bother him as much as some of the others, but Tristan or Joey? He even respected Mai more than those losers, and even she got on his last nerve.

At one point during his replay of the night before, he had remembered what Joey had said about his brother. That Mokuba was the only one who liked him, and that it might not even be for long. That was nothing but talk. He knew Mokuba loved him, he knew that Mokuba would never choose someone over him willingly. Even after being in Noah's virtual world and meeting their step-brother, Mokuba would _never_ choose someone else as his brother. Seto felt his eyes burning as he began to cry. This was the one place he could let everything go completely. The one and only place he could cry, where no one could see him.

Then he remembered the parking lot. Someone _had_ seen him cry. Damn alcohol. At some point he became so frustrated thinking about that whole night, about crying in front of another person, he'd hit the wall of the shower. Hard. His hand was throbbing and it took him several moments to even realize what had happened. He was even more furious at that point, and just turned the water off and stepped out of the shower. Once he was dry, he went on the hunt for clean clothes, and decided to just wear his usual black attire. He fixed his hair and decided to do some work in his home office.

He'd been working for several hours when Seto heard a knock at the door. Mokuba didn't wait for his brother to answer before he opened the door and stepped in.

"Seto, I'm bored."

Sighing, Seto looked at the clock and saw that it was already 4:30, "well we'll be leaving in just an hour for dinner. Can't you just entertain yourself until then?"

"Come on, really? Can't you just do something with me for a little bit? Play a video game with me! You never play them anymore."

"I don't _like_ video games, Mokuba. Besides, you can play them perfectly well one-player, so just go and play a game until I'm ready to leave. We're going to pick Sephy up and I don't want to be rude and rush her off, so I don't know if I'll have time to finish all of my work when we get home."

"You _used_ to be fun, you know."

Pouting, Mokuba walked off, shoulders slumped over. Seto sighed heavily and went back to reading his reports. Mokuba should understand that if he wasn't doing his work then they would lose money. Without money, he couldn't buy all of those awesome video games or collectibles he loved so very much. The next hour passed painfully slowly, and Seto was grateful to be able to save his work and get away from the desk. He didn't need to do much to get himself ready for dinner, just a quick fixing of the hair, check to make sure he was presentable to go out in public, and throwing his white coat on. He grabbed his work phone from his nightstand and made a mental note to replace the phone he'd lost the night before.

Mokuba was easy to find; he was in his room swearing at the TV screen, wildly pushing the buttons on a game controller, "it's time to leave."

Mokuba grumbled before saving, a little irritated because he'd just died, but jumped up and followed his brother to the car. The drive to Sephy's house wasn't long, but seemed like an eternity when Mokuba was in the back seat talking non-stop about a girl in one of his classes who he clearly had a crush on. Seto was grateful when they pulled into her driveway.

"I'm going to go get Sephy. You stay here, and please, don't embarrass me tonight Mokuba. I did enough of that last night."

Mokuba shrugged his shoulders and pulled out a hand-held game, not really phased by his brother's warning. Seto walked up the little path that led to the front door and rang the bell. He was slightly nervous, mostly because this was going to be awkward. He just wanted this night to be over with and to never have to look this girl in the eyes again. He kept rehearsing lines in his head that he would use to end the dinner if it became too uncomfortable for him or if it dragged on too long, but was pulled out of his thoughts when she opened the door. He almost didn't recognize her.

"Hi, Kaiba!" she greeted him with a big smile.

She was wearing a green strapless dress that ended just below her fingers and flared out at the bottom, black leggings and ankle-high boots. It was simple yet could work for a fancier setting as well. She actually looked nice, and Seto was a bit surprised by it.

"My brother is waiting in the car, so I'm hoping you're ready to go."

A sudden look crossed her face and he wasn't sure if it was confusion or realization, but that was answered fairly quickly, "wait. Kaiba. _Seto_ Kaiba?"

He wasn't sure how to answer or if that had even been a question, "yes?"

"Oh wow, this is so weird. Like, I thought I recognized you last night but you looked...different. It just now hit me, the coat and all. I've seen you on TV before. Oh, yeah and I'm ready to go." Closing the door behind her and dropping her keys into her clutch, she giggled a little, "I'm going to dinner with Seto Kaiba. This is way too awesome."

Before they made it back to the car, Seto clarified the situation, "so you didn't know who I was last night when you saw me at the club? You brought me home thinking I was some random man?"

She tried to keep a straight face, but clearly couldn't hold a smile in as she looked at him again, "well yeah. I thought you were just some guy who Joey didn't get along with, I had no idea you were you. Even this morning, I mean I recognized you but didn't know where I knew you from."

He kicked himself mentally, realizing that he wouldn't have even had to take her out on this stupid dinner if he'd known that. He mostly just wanted to preserve his public image and appear to be less of an ass, keep her from running to the tabloids and talking about how a trashed CEO had passed out on her bathroom floor and been rude to her. On the other hand, she'd taken him in thinking he was just a random joe and been kind enough to tend to him. Stupid girl, that sort of thing would get her killed.

Getting into the car, he said nothing more. Mokuba, on the other hand, had lots to say.

"So _you're_ Sephy, huh? Seto, you didn't tell me she was so pretty! I'm Mokuba, by the way! Nice to meet you!"

Sephy turned her head to face him, "nice to meet you, Mokuba! Pretty, huh? I like you already!"

"So do you like video games?" Mokuba was quick to find out what he thought to be the most important details of a person.

Seto huffed at him a bit as he pulled out of the driveway, "I'm sure she doesn't want to play your silly games with you, Mokuba."

Sephy snickered a little bit, "actually, I love video games."

"Oh?" Mokuba needed to know more, "how about Duel Monsters? And swimming? Do you like to color?"

"I love all of those things! Especially swimming!"

"Cool! Maybe after dinner you can come back to the house and we can play a game or something!"

Seto was screaming at his brother in his head. This was going to be a very long night.

* * *

Resa: And that's it for chapter deux! A HUUUUUUUUUUUGE thank-you to XpuzzleshippingX and Aleeah who submitted reviews to us! We appreciate and love any and all feedback, so please send us a review of chapter two and let us know what you think!

Peggi: Yes, we will give all those who review s'mores and nutella! We hope you all are enjoying so far! Just keep in mind that reviews are what keep stories alive!

Seto: In other words, if you don't send them in, these lunatics won't keep spamming this website with their nonsense.

Resa: Seto, unless you are talking about lavishing us with love, affection and money, please keep quiet!

Peggi: You know you're in love with us.

Seto: Riiight, the rope and duct tape to keep me here were just for _show_.

Resa: ...ahem. So yes. Send us your thoughts on chapter two! And in case you didn't notice til this point, our story and chapter titles are song names or lyrics! Because we're mega trendy like that!


	3. Little Bit of Everything

Quick Recap: After waking up from his night of drinking, Seto finds himself in Sephy's house. He decides to repay her for taking care of him the night before and not running to the media with stories about him by taking her out to dinner. Mokuba is just as interested in finding out more about her as he is with the fact that his brother invited her to dinner in the first place. While Mokuba finds himself a new friend in her, Seto dreads the dinner that is ahead of them.

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! nor do we own the items or settings where this story takes place. All we own is the idea for this nifty little story and our original characters. Please don't sue, as all you will get from us is an itchy wool blanket that barely substitutes for a pillow and a bin used for junk mail to be shredded.

_**Title: Clarity**_  
_**Chapter 3: Little Bit of Everything**_  
_**Chapter Written By: Peggi, Kit and Resa**_

* * *

By the time the three of them had reached the restaurant, and Seto was doing his best to zip through traffic to get there, Mokuba had discovered that he had a lot in common with Sephy. They both loved all types of games, she loved shopping and going to the beach or rock climbing. She even loved to watch movies all night with pizza and popcorn. The two of them had been laughing about favorite movies, talking about bands they both loved, and Seto could feel a headache coming on. He was grateful that Mokuba was getting along with her, though. The two chatted away until they took their seats and a waiter handed the three of them menus.

Sephy looked around, taking it all in finally. "Wow, this place is pretty fancy. Thanks again for bringing me out tonight, you really didn't have to."

"Don't be ridiculous. You tended to me last night and this morning, and this is repaying the favor," his tone was a little harsher than he'd intended, mostly because he hated people making a big deal out of the rare moments he decided to be nice - especially if it was to pay them back for something.

"Well, thanks again. It was really nice of you," she didn't seem phased at all by how sharp he'd been.

It didn't take long for the three to decide what they wanted to eat, and after they had ordered, Sephy tried to make conversation with Seto.

"So, I know all about Mokuba now, but how about you? What sort of things do you like to do?"

Seto didn't even turn his head to face her as he pulled his work phone out of his pocket and started scrolling through hoping to avoid future questions, "I work."

Sephy laughed a little, "I meant for _fun_ what do you do?"

"I don't do 'fun' things unless Mokuba drags me along to some silly event," he was getting a little irritated and started scrolling through his emails.

Sephy took the hint and stopped questioning him, deciding to talk to Mokuba instead. Seto listened to the two of them chattering away about some movie they both liked and was grateful when their food got there. He was extremely uncomfortable making casual conversation with people, and nothing he could talk about would be something Sephy would understand anyway. Mokuba ate noisily and Seto cringed every time his brother would speak, since he seemed to have his mouth full of food every time. Sephy seemed to eat at a slower pace, at least taking the time to swallow her food before talking, and Seto of course mostly just picked at his food and avoided their conversations.

Rather than worry himself over their silly conversations he thought about some new ideas for KaibaCorp, some of the upcoming events, and planning his brother's birthday party in a couple of weeks. It wasn't until the check came that he finally tuned in a little to the two of them, who were now talking about Duel Monsters, which at least wasn't _as_ boring to him as some of the other nonsense they'd discussed. He hadn't played Duel Monsters in quite a while, but just thinking about it reminded him of that rush after a win, that calm after seeing his opponent's face when they knew they were destroyed. Seto got lost in his own thoughts until he realized that Mokuba was talking about Battle City, which would've been fine by itself, but he had to bring Yugi and pals into the discussion.

"It was so cool seeing the Egyptian God cards, but a little scary too!"

"And which one did Yugi have?"

"Slifer the Sky Dragon, and my brother had Obelisk. It was so neat getting to see some of the top duelists from all over the world compete! It all got a little crazy because of Marik and his Rare Hunters, though."

"Wait, Marik had what?"

Seto put an end to their conversation pretty fast, "Mokuba, enough. Are you both ready to leave?"

Mokuba pouted but nodded and Sephy took one last sip of water before standing. They were almost at the car when Mokuba asked Seto a question.

"Can Sephy come over and play GRID 2 with me?"

The three of them got into the car, Seto not saying a word, hoping his brother would let it go. He didn't.

"Please? _You_ never want to play with me and she plays video games so please, please, please, Seto?"

Sephy laughed nervously, "maybe some other time, Mokuba. I'm sure your brother has had enough of me for today."

At least if she was oblivious to not being wanted any other time, she would catch on to clues that she wasn't wanted at their place after dinner. Mokuba continued to talk Sephy's ear off about school and one of his tutors until they dropped her off, at which point he planned to give his brother the silent treatment. As she got out of the car, Sephy turned to face Seto, who very clearly was irritated at the moment.

"Thanks again for dinner, it was delicious and I had fun," and then she turned her attention to Mokuba who was pouting already from the back seat "and _you_ better watch out, kiddo. I will play that game with you very soon and I'll totally show you up!"

Mokuba laughed and waved her good-bye as she got out of the car, and then crossed his arms and glared at his brother. Seto just ignored him and pulled out of the driveway, anxious to just get home and relax a little. He ignored his brother's pouting and thought about some new ideas for a Duel Disk system, feeling his time was much better spent worrying over that. While the standard Duel Disk for Battle City was great, he'd thought of some new concepts while using it, and he was just now getting around to designing it. There was also a trip to America coming up to worry about, the design of a new amusement park to plan, and so many more things on top of all of that.

Mokuba didn't waste any time running inside when they pulled up to the Kaiba mansion, and Seto went straight to the library. He was so stressed out from thinking about all that he had to do, he just wanted to unwind a little bit. He grabbed a book, poured himself a drink, and laid down on the couch to do a little reading. While he'd never admit to anyone who wasn't his brother, he loved reading some of the classics, and this night seemed like a good night to finish Sense and Sensibility which was a personal favorite. By the time he finished and looked up to the clock, it was after midnight and he decided to get some sleep.

Walking past his brother's room, he saw that Mokuba had fallen asleep in front of the TV, and he stepped inside and turned it off. He slid Mokuba towards the middle of his bed and covered him up, a small smile crossing his face when his brother stirred a little bit and then fell back asleep. The kid drove him crazy most days, but he was the one constant in Seto's life, and he would do anything to keep him happy and safe. Seto sighed, looking around the messy room, just sitting on the edge of the bed and thinking back to when he and Mokuba had first moved into the mansion. Mokuba was so afraid, practically clinging to him the entire first day. He knew that his older brother would protect him and make sure that nothing bad happened to him.

For a brief moment, Seto smiled remembering what it was like spending time with Mokuba as kids. The nostalgia didn't last long, as the thoughts were interrupted by memories of what he'd gone through to get to this point. He'd learned early on that you can't trust people, and on the rare occasion you can, you hold on to those people. After their father died, he learned his first cold, hard lesson about that. Their family had used their money and abandoned them, left them with nothing but each other, just kids who were alone in the world. He wondered what it would've been like for him if he'd just gone with one of the families that wanted him. The families who smiled at him and called him a genius. Moms who smelled like they'd been baking cookies while the dads smiled despite being exhausted from working all day. The ones who brought their kids in to meet the orphans they might be taking home, smiles on their faces, chattering away about all of the fun things they planned to do with a new sibling.

He hated himself for wondering, but he couldn't help but do it. What if he had just left Mokuba and had an easier life for himself? But Mokuba...he wouldn't have made it out of there, and not without the emotional scars. From day one, the other kids made Mokuba's time there a living hell, and without Seto there to stand up for him, it would've destroyed him. It was worth the years of struggle and abuse by Gozaburo after their adoption, if it meant Mokuba could at least be happy. He had friends, he did well in school when he actually focused, and one day he would take over the company and the responsibilities that came with. Seto stood and left, closing the door slowly behind him, and rushed off to his own bedroom.

As he walked in, he closed the door behind him and leaned his back against it, slowly sinking onto the floor, and felt himself starting to cry again. He hated feeling emotional. Emotions were his biggest weakness, and for so many years he hid them well. Not even his own brother would see him like this, and as far as everyone else was concerned he was some sort of robot, uncaring and unfeeling. As long as he could hide the fact that he was really an emotional wreck from everybody else, he'd allow himself to indulge in these moments of weakness.

Sleep didn't find Seto easily, not that it was unusual at all, but he just laid in bed and distracted himself thinking about Mokuba's birthday. Seto had probably fallen asleep for about an hour or so before he felt Mokuba pounce on top of him, which was becoming ritual for the two of them. Mokuba didn't even allow Seto the time to wake up fully before pestering him.

"Seto, can we go somewhere today? You should take me to the market! I really want to go, and it would be so much fun! We never do anything anymore and you're always in your office or reading or something boring and you didn't let Sephy play with me last night so now you owe me something fun!"

Seto groaned, rolling onto his stomach and burying his face in the pillow, but that didn't stop Mokuba from shaking him, trying to keep him awake. Finally, Seto gave up and pushed his brother off of him.

"Fine. Fine, we can go to the damn market. What do you want to buy there, anyway?"

He noticed a faint pink color forming on Mokuba's cheeks as the younger boy averted his eyes, "well nothing, really. But a friend from school is going to be there, and everybody is going...I just thought we could maybe walk around and go out by the docks and get some lunch or something. And if I happen to run into anybody from school-" Mokuba's voice trailed off and he shrugged his shoulders.

Seto knew full-well what his brother was doing. For weeks, Mokuba had been flirting with a girl from one of his classes, pretending to randomly run into her in public though he'd planned it the whole time - Seto played along, pretending to not realize what Mokuba was doing. This was the first time his younger sibling had really shown any interest in a girl, so Seto assumed it would eventually stop. Until then, he'd be a good brother and allow the kid to embarrass himself in front of her. He rushed his brother out of his room and started his morning ritual of showering, preening and getting dressed. He was glad that his face looked a lot better than it had the day before, the swelling around his lip had gone down completely and there was just a little bruise left to remind him about the incident.

By the time he had finished making himself look presentable and arrived downstairs, Mokuba was already finished with his breakfast and was ready to leave. Seto decided to just buy coffee out, and scooted Mokuba along to the car. Roland knew exactly where to stop for the coffee, and Seto sighed as he looked out the window as they drove to the cafe. Mokuba was fidgeting and clearly very excited to be out, and Seto longed for more sleep. This had been a rough weekend, and he had work the next day. He wished he could just stay home and relax and get some rest before having to dive back in to his exhausting job.

The two finally made it to the market and Mokuba was very enthusiastic about running from stand to stand. He investigated all of the delicious looking foods that were being sold and convinced Seto to buy him a little trinket that was being sold at one of the stands. It was a Kuriboh keychain, and even though he didn't have keys, he convinced the older boy that it would be perfect to put on his backpack for school. Seto finally had given in, sighing and mumbling about how much of a waste of money it was, but it made Mokuba very happy. By noon, Seto was worn out from walking around, watching Mokuba 'ooo' and 'aaah' over every little thing that he saw. He was grateful when the boy picked out a place to grab some sushi, and the pair sat on the dock looking out at the water.

"So, you having fun big brother?" Mokuba asked, shoving an entire piece of sushi into his mouth.

"It's fine," Seto replied with the same amount of enthusiasm as most people have at the dentists office while getting teeth pulled.

"Yeah, you really look like it is," Mokuba rolled his eyes.

Seto pulled his organizer out of his pocket and scrolled through some emails and updates on the company's stocks, "you know I don't care for these little adventures as much as you do. Where is this girl you're trying to meet up with, anyway?"

Mokuba blushed, glad his brother's attention was on the little screen rather than on him, "she'll be here. How about you? Do you think you're going to see Sephy again?"

Seto's eyes moved away from the organizer and looked into Mokuba's, "why would you ask me that?"

"I dunno," Mokuba shrugged before shoving a piece of sashimi into his mouth "maybe because I really liked her and I thought you did too. She _was_ really nice, and she didn't even mind that you ignored her almost the whole time we were out and were kinda a jerk. Plus she likes you. I just figured-"

Mokuba let his voice trail off and Seto snorted at him, "if I have any choice in the matter I won't have to spend _any_ more time with that girl. Ever. And what gave you an insane idea like that? Her liking me? If anything, she tolerated me as much as I tolerated her."

"You really don't get people, do you? _Especially_ girls. The way she kept glancing over at you while we were eating, even if you were being rude and not even talking to her. And sucks you said you don't want to have to see her, because I wanted to see if she can come over and play some video games with me this week. I mean, she did say she wanted to, and even if you didn't like her, I do. Plus I really want her to come to my birthday party. _I_ think it would be fun!"

Seto groaned, pocketing his organizer, "it's your party, you can invite whoever you choose. I guess it wouldn't hurt to invite her over one evening this week, but please don't think that this gives you permission to let her invade my privacy or my life. She is _your_ friend and your responsibility when she is in the mansion. I don't want to have to see her or babysit the two of you."

Mokuba just laughed and shoved more food into his mouth, taking a drink of his tea, "she's a grown-up, Seto. I don't think she needs a babysitter. Besides, she won't want to hang out with you. You're boring and you don't do anything fun."

"Oh? Then what do you call this?"

"You watching over me while _I_ have fun."

Touche. Seto rolled his eyes and took a bite of sushi, sighing and wondering what his brother hoped to accomplish by inviting this girl over for childish games. He was grateful that someone took an interest in spending time with Mokuba, since he was a lot smarter than most of the other kids his age, but still...her? Mokuba had always enjoyed spending time with his older brother, the staff, or the employees. He did have friends his age but none of them really kept his interest when it came to coming over for play-dates. A huge role that played in that was the fact that most of the other kids tended to use Mokuba, making it difficult for the almost-fourteen-year-old to make a friend and keep them around. Often they would enjoy the luxuries of the Kaiba mansion and then when it came to repaying the favor at their own house, they would cancel until Mokuba gave up.

While lost in his thoughts, he noticed Mokuba getting up from the table and walking off, not a single word said, and he knew that he'd spotted the girl he liked. Seto sighed again, watching as Mokuba effortlessly began a conversation with the girl, and even from the distance Seto could tell he was flirting with her. She was flirting back, too. Seto gave a half-smile, taking in another bite of sushi, and wondered how his brother could do it so easily. He was nervous, yes, but when it came to actually talking to girls he made it look easy. Seto wished he'd been able to have that experience when he was that age.

When he was in highschool, it was definitely difficult for him to talk to people or even make friends. Most of the other students did bore him, so that was part of the problem, but the biggest issue was figuring out how to start up a conversation. Even when he'd first met Yugi, Joey made it so hard to stand being around them, not that some of his own actions had helped...but still. He hadn't stayed in school for long and resorted to the teachings of private tutors, but while he was there he never once felt welcome. He'd initially tried going to school _to_ make friends, since he'd never managed to make any prior thanks to Gozaboro not allowing friends over or any real communication with others. He wondered if things would've been easier for him if he'd ever met anyone who treated him like a regular person and not either some rich snob or a celebrity. Sephy never treated him like a celebrity, even if she did get a little excited when she realized who he was.

She also was very polite and grateful for the time she got to spend with him, and treated his brother very well. She'd taken the time to get to know Mokuba, and even tried to include both in the conversation several times. He regretted not talking to her at least a little bit. She also had been nice to him at her own house, even when he probably deserved to be told off. He had treated her poorly, made sleep difficult for her, and still felt bad he'd ruined her date. He suddenly felt angry, realizing that she had been out on a date with that loser. What did she see in him?

He wasn't articulate or educated at all, not like Seto was. He also was pretty plain looking. Joey had those plain, boring eyes while Seto had blue ones. Seto had smoother skin, a more defined jawline, he was taller. He even figured he had a better body and-why was he comparing himself to Joey? Why did he care at all what type of guy she preferred or should be with? He didn't understand what was causing him to think like this. It wasn't rational and he shouldn't be thinking about her at _all_. So why was he.

Suddenly, he felt his stomach sink. Was he...jealous?

* * *

Kit: Now I totally get why other authoresses use cliffhangers!

Peggi: Awesometastic chapter number 3 is posted! Yay! I'm so proud of us for actually continuing on this.

Noah: You guys suck for not letting me be in this.

Resa: Oh, you'll be in some fantastic flashbacks and shit. You won't like it though. We're not chill like that!

Kit: WE GOT REVIEWSSSSS! CannonballZone whose real name I won't disclose but I legit turned into fangirl-mode when I read them.

Resa: More reviews, people! We have plot-bunnies to be fed, and they eat reviews. And probably lettuce or something. So get on it, readers!


	4. Constant Conversations

Quick Recap: Seto and Mokuba take Sephy out to dinner and Sephy seems to hit it off right away with the younger boy. Seto has memories of his past and still seems to be unable to get any sleep. Mokuba convinces him to spend their Sunday at the market and while Mokuba is off flirting with a girl he likes, Seto starts to feel envious of his brother's ability to get along with others so well. He starts thinking about Sephy and has awkward feelings which he may or may not agree is jealousy.

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! nor do we own the items or settings where this story takes place. All we own is the idea for this nifty little story and our original characters. Please don't sue, as all you will get from us is body butter scented like cough syrup and a mouse who is too fat and lazy to run on her wheel.

_**Title: Clarity**_  
_**Chapter : Constant Conversations**_  
_**Chapter Written By: Kit (mostly) and Peggi**_

* * *

Joey wasn't exactly thrilled when he saw Sephy walking up to the boys, Téa's elbow locked around the other girl's. The two were giggling and chatting as though nothing had even happened Friday night. He was still furious with Sephy for getting herself involved with he and Seto's fight, and the bitch hadn't even called to apologize. The boys were all sitting outside of a cafe, and Téa walked inside while Sephy approached the table.

"Hey guys!" she greeted, Joey instantly feeling less social.

"Hi, Seph!" Yugi was the first to greet her.

Ryou gave a little wave and Tristan took Joey's cue to ignore her arrival completely. Sephy sat down between Joey and Yugi, grabbing Yugi's smoothie and taking a sip without even asking. Joey could feel his frustration building and stood to leave the table completely, when he felt his arm being tugged and he sat down hard enough to actually hurt.

"No way, you're staying here," Sephy demanded, giving him a very displeased look.

"Why should I? Obviously you're not here to hang with me, so what do ya need me here for?"

"To talk to you, silly. I wanted to tell you I'm sorry I had to smack some sense into you on Friday night."

Joey huffed at her, not sure if her apology was sincere, but either way it didn't make him feel any better. Tristan came to his rescue, though.

"You had no business getting in the middle of that."

Her displeased look redirected itself at Tristan, but he didn't back down. Ryou looked around, hoping for a quick escape while Yugi just sighed, sipping on his drink.

"I had _every_ right to get in the middle, Tristan!" she used his name as though there were venom in her voice, "Joey was making an ass out of himself, starting fights and nearly getting all of us kicked out. He could've been arrested. And he could've just let it go, that dude was totally wasted. That's not a fair fight, and you knew it, Joey."

"Yeah? Well how about all those times he messed with me? You don't know that guy, Sephy. He's bad news. Did you know that the first time we ever met him, he pretended to be our friend to get his hands on a prized card of Yugi's gramps'? Then he switched the card for a _fake_ when he couldn't buy it offa him, and when Yugi caught him and defeated him in a duel things got worse."

"Yeah!" Tristan once again felt the need to help his friend out, "the asshole tore the card in half so it couldn't be used anymore if he couldn't have it. Not to mention he treats all of us like pieces of trash, and if you don't have money he acts like you're diseased and can't be anywhere near him. Yugi even tried lots of times to be friends with the bastard, but the only person he's ever been nice to is his brother. How Mokuba and that jerk are related I'll never know. Mokuba is the nicest kid once you get to know him but Kaiba is just bad news!"

Feeling guilty for not having gotten the full story, Sephy fidgeted with a napkin, "he seemed nice enough to me..."

Téa came to the rescue, realizing the conversation taking place and noting the tension. She sat down across from Sephy and tried to change the subject before things got too heated at the table.

"So guys, are you thinking about entering that new Duel Monsters tournament they just announced? I saw a flyer inside for it and it looks like it might be fun."

"Probably," Yugi shrugged, "I mean I haven't really given it a lot of thought, and I've been traveling a lot for competitions, so this one might be fun. It isn't too far from here."

"Well I am!" Joey grinned, "no way I'd pass up a chance to show up some of the amateur duelists! I'll wipe the floor with 'em!"

Téa laughed, "I'm sure you'll both do great! How about you, Ryou? Are you thinking of joining?"

"No," he gave a little uneasy laugh "I don't think it's a good idea...all I need is for the spirit in my Millennium Item getting greedy and killing his way to the top. We all saw what started happening at Duelist Kingdom. Battle City, even."

"What happened in Duelist Kingdom?" Sephy asked. An innocent question that caused everyone to look at her all at once.

"Uh, it's...it's kinda hard to explain," Téa wouldn't even be sure where to start.

"You know what we told you about the ancient spirit that lives in my Millennium Puzzle?" Yugi figured the easiest way to explain were the basics, "well, Ryou has one living in his Millennium Ring too. Mine is a good spirit but his...his isn't so nice."

Ryou interrupted, almost in a whisper, "he has a nasty habit of hurting and killing people."

"Oh..."

"But it's okay," Yugi was all smiles on that note "he hasn't been out to bother us in a good while."

The rest of the morning was mostly spent with the boys talking about previous competitions they'd entered and the girls exchanging glances from time to time. Joey had almost forgotten that he was angry with Sephy for slapping him, and all seemed to be forgiven by everyone else.

On the other side of town, Seto was feeling very uncomfortable with the thoughts that were crossing his mind. He watched his brother flirt and joke around with the girl he had been fawning all over for some time now. Several of her friends had shown up and he seemed to do just fine talking to the other girls as well, and when some of the other boys from their school arrived, it was clear that Mokuba felt more comfortable than they did. After almost an hour, Mokuba finally made his way back to the table, a huge smile on his face.

"Ready to go home now?" Seto asked, hopeful that his brother had worn himself out from the excitement.

"I guess so. Hey, can I ask you something?" he questioned as they began walking back to where the car would be waiting.

"Nothing has ever stopped you before."

"Some of the guys are entering this tournament and I was wondering if maybe I could enter. I know Duel Monsters is more your thing than mine, but I think it would be a ton of fun! Plus, if I win then I get to be in the news and win some cool rare cards!"

"Can't I just buy you the cards? Why would you want to spend your time dueling when you don't even care for the game that much?"

Mokuba shrugged his shoulders, "I just thought it would be fun. The other kids are doing it and I haven't even been kidnapped in a long time, so you don't have to worry about me, big brother. I'll be fine. Besides, you always tell me I should find a hobby other than annoying you and playing video games, so why not. I already know how to play. Plus I can practice with all the simulators you used to use!"

He honestly didn't like the idea of his little brother running around on his own, dueling complete strangers and spending all of his time practicing. On the other hand, he seemed to really want to do this and he was a teenager now. There wasn't really any way he could tell him no, considering everything he'd already been through. He could probably just have some bodyguards at the ready just in case things didn't work out, and if Mokuba wanted to spend his summer playing card games he couldn't stop him. The part that bothered him the most was that if Mokuba was going to be off playing in a tournament, he would be away from home which meant he would have to find other ways to occupy his time. Despite the frustrations of takings his little brother out and about or tolerating his poor taste in movies, he did like spending time with him.

In a perfect world, he'd have offered to go with him, watch from the sidelines and cheer him on. Unfortunately, being who he was, most people would recognize him and annoy him to no end to duel with them. For the most part, he'd given up dueling. Not only was it no longer a challenge to him anymore, but he just didn't have the time and it had become more of a task than for fun. Yes, he enjoyed watching his opponent's face as they realized they'd lost, that tortured look in their eyes, the complete and utter defeat showing on every part of their being, but for now, he had no desire to be a part of that world anymore.

"So? Can I?" Mokuba pleaded, interrupting his thoughts.

Seto just sighed, "I don't see why not. You are going to have some of my men watching over you though. There is _no_ way I am allowing you to run all over a town by yourself with credit cards and your deck to be stolen."

Mokuba just rolled his eyes as he got into the car. Seto pulled his organizer out again and was scrolling through his emails when one in particular caught his eye. It was from Mai, and as he opened it he was surprised by her request. She was back in the country after touring and doing promotional work and was interested in doing some promotional work for KaibaCorp. Mai had definitely gained popularity over the years, mainly because men couldn't keep their eyes off of her, but he _did_ need someone to help advertise some of the new products his company had come out with.

Once they arrived back at the mansion he decided to give Mai a call and see if she would be interested in some of the products he had in mind. Mokuba instantly went into his room, turning on the TV and starting up a video game. The phone only rang twice before Mai picked up, her usual overly-cheery voice on the other end of the line.

"Well hi there, hun! I didn't think you'd call!"

He cringed at her overabundant use of the word 'hun', but tried to ignore it, "I read through your email and if you have a moment to talk I'd like to discuss it with you."

"Oh, sure! I'm just out doing some shopping with some friends, let me step outside real quick. It's pretty loud in here."

Seto imagined her carrying about 20 huge bags filled with clothes and shoes, casually tossing her long blond hair and flirting with the male cashiers to get discounts. He tried not to laugh at the thought, and questioned whether or not he really wanted to tolerate her for working purposes.

"Alright, so, what did you have in mind?"

"Well, for the moment we have some new theme park attractions that need advertising as well as a new simulator, similar to the one you did the beta testing for a few years back. I think that either would be perfect for you, given your rank in the dueling world. People recognize you, they know the name, and I think it could benefit both of us if you are interested. It's just a few simple ads for now, but we'll see how you do."

"Sure! That sounds perfect!"

"I'll email you the information as well as the name and phone number of the agent you'll be dealing with."

"Oh, so I don't get to see _your_ pretty face, then?" he hated it when she flirted with him, "no matter, I really appreciate the work. I just moved back and I haven't found any solid work leads so this is perfect."

Seto could hear Téa's voice in the background, "Mai! There you are! We were looking for you! You totally bailed on us!"

He wasn't surprised that the first thing Mai had done aside from shopping was catching up with Téa, since they'd gotten pretty close nearing the finals of Battle City.

"Sorry, had to take a call," she whispered.

"Oh, we'll just meet you at the pet store then," it wasn't Téa who replied at all.

Before the brain-to-mouth filter kicked in, surprise took over, "Sephy?"

It had definitely been her who he'd heard. He would recognize her voice anywhere, though that was mostly because it was on one of the worst nights of his life he'd heard it. Things like that stay embedded in your brain. There was a slight pause before Mai spoke again.

"You know Sephy?"

Sephy clearly hadn't been out of earshot, "wait what? Who knows me?"

Before the conversation went any further, Seto hung up. He just hung up, not sure how to react other than that, not wanting to explain anything. He was slightly embarassed by saying anything. He should've just kept his mouth shut and not said anything. He hoped that Mai wouldn't pry as to how they met or that Téa wouldn't offer in any little details. She'd been there that night too.

A few hours passed and after a lot of debating whether or not he should even send the email, Seto sent the work details to Mai. He figured that any damage that was to be done was already done, and if she had any smartass remarks to make, she would make them one way or another. All that was left now was to wait and see.

Several days had gone by, and Seto had gotten back to his usual routine. Work, home, drink, read, sleep, repeat. Mokuba hadn't brought the tournament up again after the first time he'd asked, and Seto was grateful. Thursday, Seto had to work late and he had told Mokuba not to wait to eat, and Mokuba seemed perfectly fine with that. He wanted to order pizza, anyway, so it worked out in his favor. He didn't get out of the office until nearly nine, and he practically fell asleep on the ride home. He felt a headache coming on and thought about just going straight to bed. As soon as he walked through the front door he smelled pizza and popcorn and despite the fact that he didn't really eat much, especially junk food, it did make him hungry.

As he walked up the stairs he heard a movie playing in the theater room and rolled his eyes as he heard the typical Mokuba-style reactions to what was going on. He had gotten so used to his brother yelling at movies or games as though it made a difference, that he wasn't even phased. He walked into his bedroom, grabbing some Aspirin off of the bedside table, swallowing it dry and then finding something more comfortable to wear. He was about to head back down the stairs when he heard a thud and decided to make sure his brother hadn't managed to somehow injure himself.

Sliding the door open he turned on the light in the theater room and froze. He wasn't really sure what the appropriate reaction or words should be, but his brother had apparently decided that it would be a good night to invite Sephy over. He had no idea what he had walked into, but there was popcorn on the floor, Sephy was pinned down on her back by Mokuba, desperately trying to hold on to him to keep him off of her while he reached frantically for the piece of pizza that was in her hand. The pair stopped moving, probably stopped _breathing_ when they saw Seto in the doorway. It was several seconds of silence before Sephy shoved Mokuba off of her and bit into the pizza. Mokuba looked horrified by it but then burst into laughter, pulling pieces of popcorn out of her hair.

"Sorry, Seto. Did we disturb you?" he asked, innocently.

Seto opened his mouth to say something but just shook his head and walked off, hearing both laughing again.

"I think we pissed your brother off," Sephy laughed, not really caring at that very moment.

"Oh just ignore him," Mokuba rolled his eyes "it doesn't take much." he pulled more popcorn out of her hair and ate it, causing her jaw to drop.

"Uh ew, you're so gross," but she laughed anyway and took another bite of the pizza they'd been fighting over. It was, after all, the last piece of pepperoni.

"After Harry Potter is over do you want to watch Iron Man with me?" Mokuba gave her his best pout, hoping that it would work.

"Maybe. It's getting kinda late though."

Mokuba just rolled his eyes, "if it gets too late, you can stay here, we have a guest room and all."

"Thanks, but I'm pretty sure your brother would hate you if I did. I can come back this weekend or something though. You're fun to hang out with. You like good movies and you feed me."

Mokuba laughed and sat back down to watch the rest of the movie, a little disappointed but at least grateful that he'd made a friend.

Seto sat at the table alone, pulling pieces of his sandwich apart and eating them piece by piece. He was furious with Mokuba for inviting someone over without telling him, but at the same time he'd given the okay and he was just glad that he'd given up on trying to invite Yugi over. He had done it a few summers back, inviting him over for dinners and movies and games. It was stressful because of the history he had with Yugi, more so because of his own actions than he'd ever want to admit.

He'd only taken a few bites before pushing the plate to the center of the table and walking away. He went to his library ritual, picking out a book and planning to get trashed while reading. He didn't know how long he'd been reading, but it had to have been for quite a long time. He hadn't had that much to drink but he felt like he'd been drugged. He sat the book down on the table in front of him and closed his eyes, hoping the foggy feeling would lift. It didn't, and he looked to the bottle he'd been pouring from. It hadn't been opened prior to tonight, and all he'd eaten was the sandwich. Part of it, anyway. He'd never felt like this before, and he felt his headache coming back. It hurt so bad he wanted to scream, and then he looked to the doorway.

Sephy was standing there, quizzical look on her face, almost amused by watching him with a frantic look on his face.

"You drugged me, didn't you?!" he screamed at her.

"Nobody drugged you, Seto."

"No, it was you. I've never felt like this before and it wasn't until _you_ came into my home. I swear, if you came here to hurt Mokuba, I-"

"Not everything is about Mokuba, you know."

He didn't have the patience for mind-games. He'd played enough of them with _real_ monsters, like Malik and Bakura. With Gozaboro. He walked up to her, grabbing her by her shoulders and slamming her against a bookcase.

"What are you doing here?! Who sent you?" he felt like he could pass out at any moment.

"I'm here to help you," she seemed completely unphased by what was going on, "but what are _you_ doing?"

"What do you mean, 'what am I doing'? What kind of stupid question is that?!"

"How should I know? You're the one who brought me here."

He wasn't sure if it was just a very confusing conversation or if it was the drugs in his system, but he had really no idea what she was talking about. He was about to argue more with her when he saw a smile on her face. It wasn't what he'd seen before, it almost looked sinister. She gave a little laugh, and sighed.

"Really, Seto. What _are_ you doing? Shouldn't we be at the hospital?"

He was thinking of what to say next when he realized he was holding something. When he looked down he realized that something was definitely not right. He opened his mouth to speak again but couldn't find any words. His breath caught in his throat and with his hands completely covered in blood he dropped the knife he'd just stabbed the girl in front of him with. As soon as it hit the floor, there was a loud crash and Seto sat up.

He stood up in a panic but after a few moments he realized he'd just woken up from a very vivid, extremely disturbing nightmare. He looked around to make sure nobody was in the library with him, and he saw that he was alone. He'd had dreams like this before, vivid and just as terrifying, but this was several steps above what he was used to. He knelt down to pick up the pieces of glass from the floor, since he'd dropped his glass while dreaming, and noticed a small amount of blood on the back of his hand. It _had_ just been a dream, right?

* * *

Seto: Wait, you're leaving it there?! Did I kill her?! Was it a dream?! Kit, you took over this chapter, _what have you done_?!

Kit: I made it all awesome and stuff!

Peggi: ...I may or may not agree to that statement...I'm not sure I like the possibility of you having killed off my OC...

Resa: I won't lie, this literally just got 500% more awesome...

Seto: Review these idiots so they can update and I can find out if I have to hire a lawyer to avoid prison time. I wouldn't enjoy prison. I'm way too pretty for that shit.

Kit: And a huuuuuuuuuuuuuuuuge freaking thanks to CannonballZone and Harmony for their reviews! We love you guys!


	5. Sometime Around Midnight

Quick Recap: Yugi & Co. slight character development and an announcement of a new tournament! Mokuba invites Sephy over for a movie and junk-food playdate, irritating Seto, who then has what is left off at an assumed nightmare cliffhanger!

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! nor do we own the items or settings where this story takes place. All we own is the idea for this nifty little story and our original characters. Please don't sue, as all you will get from us is an almost empty ketchup bottle and half a pitcher of iced tea.

_**Title: Clarity**_  
_**Chapter : Sometime Around Midnight**_  
_**Chapter Written By: Peggi & Kit  
Special Guest Authoress: Harmony**_

Seto walked up to a mirror and checked to make sure he wasn't covered in blood, but he wasn't. He sighed from relief when he realized the blood and the dream had nothing in common. It was just another nosebleed, probably from all the stress he was under lately. He wanted to go to sleep, but didn't think he'd be able to after the adrenaline rush from waking up after something like that. Still, he wanted to at least try. The mansion was quiet and he found Mokuba asleep in his room, no sign of the unwanted guest, and he took a couple more aspirin before getting into bed.

He was thoroughly creeped out by his dream and tried to separate what he'd experienced and reality, but it was hard to. Something kept forcing him to replay the entire nightmare over and over again. It was like he couldn't stop. He would try to think of something completely unrelated, but each and every time it would go back to that whole conversation. The emotions he felt during the nightmare. It took him forever to fall back asleep, and he woke up the next morning feeling like he'd been up for days.

He was a little slower to get ready for work that morning, and Mokuba was ready for his last day of school before summer vacation began. He was almost done with eating breakfast when Seto sat down at the table.

"Are you okay, Seto?" Mokuba asked quietly.

"Hm? Oh, I'm fine. Why do you ask?"

"Nothing...you just look not yourself. Are you sick or something?"

"I just didn't sleep well, Mokuba. Finish your breakfast."

Seto was not in the mood to talk, and he began eating as soon as his plate was put in front of him. He wasn't sure how long he'd been sitting there, he'd honestly lost track of time from exhaustion, but he looked to his brother who was just giving him an odd look.

"What now?" he sighed.

"Nothing," Mokuba took a sip of juice "just never seen you actually eat your bacon before. You know, like _ever_."

He honestly had to have been on auto-pilot, because he didn't even realize he was eating it either. Yet there he was, eating something he usually just gave to his brother. Was he really that tired? He almost considered calling out of work, but too much had to be done. Mokuba stood, giving Seto a hug and grabbing his backpack as soon as there was a knock at the door.

"Joey and Sephy are picking me up today for school, so I'll see you later!"

Seto cringed, not wanting to hear the names of the two people he'd like to think about _least_ right now, but didn't say anything. He just wanted to avoid seeing them. He felt his luck draining when he saw Sephy walk into the room. The second he saw her, Seto flashed back to his awful dream, remembering how terrified he was when he thought he'd killed her, and it was like seeing a ghost. He looked down at his plate to avoid eye contact with her.

"What are you doing in here?" he asked, coolly.

"I just thought I should say sorry for the mess Mokuba and I made last night. And for being so noisy. I really hope you'll change your mind, and I'm again so sorry for pissing you off."

Where had that come from? Had he really seemed that upset when he walked out of the theater room last night? He felt bad if he had upset her, partially because he still felt guilty for killing her - even if that made no sense.

"Change my mind about what?"

She turned around to face him, and glanced over her shoulder to see if Mokuba was behind her, "what you said last night to me."

Last night? What had he said before he walked out of the room? He didn't remember saying anything. She could clearly see that he didn't understand what she meant, so she leaned in a little closer so she could whisper without either of the other boys in the next room to hear her.

"What you told me in the library, I mean."

She turned to walk away, but Seto grabbed her wrist and pulled her so that she was facing him. He'd pulled her so hard she almost lost her balance and had to catch herself on the table.

"You _were_ in the library last night! What did you do to me? I thought that was just a dream, but you were really there? What did you mean when you said that I brought you here? And how the hell are you even alive?" he probably should've thought through what he was going to say before blurting it all out in random segments, especially since he was showing his whole hand early in the game.

Sephy looked like she was about to say something but instead she just smiled, pulling her wrist away from him. She took a deep breath, like she was about to give some sort of a lengthy speech, but she just sighed, rubbing her wrist since he'd apparently grabbed onto her pretty hard.

"No clue what you're talking about, Kaiba. I barely got a word in," she bit her lower lip "do you even remember what happened? You were pretty trashed."

No. Of course he didn't. He remembered feeling drugged and stabbing her to death. Clearly she wasn't dead, so he wasn't sure how much of it was real.

"Mokuba had me go get us tea and I walked past the library and you just started yelling at me. You said a lot of awful things and you told me I'm not welcome to come here anymore to hang out with your brother. I wasn't sure if it was just the alcohol or-"

Seto crossed his arms as he stood up, getting as much in her face as he could, "so you're telling me you didn't do a damn thing to me? I just feel like I have drugs in my system for no real reason, right?"

Sephy narrowed her eyes at him, "you think I _drugged_ you?! Are you that batshit crazy?!"

She had been a good deal louder than she'd meant to, and Joey had heard her raising her voice. He stepped from around the corner, seeing Seto obviously trying to intimidate the smaller girl and he gave his best menacing glare.

"It's fine, Joey," she turned back to Seto "we can go now. And by the way, Kaiba, I would skip the coffee this morning. Just a suggestion."

He wanted to ask what she meant and as badly as he wanted rid of her, it didn't all make sense. She looked genuinely confused by what he had said, and he didn't remember her version at all. He did have a tendency to talk in his sleep, but half of it was all mumbling and he couldn't hold conversations. And why shouldn't he drink coffee today? Had she done something to it? Or had someone else and she was warning him? He decided he would just pick some up on the way to work, which he should be leaving for. And why was Joey with her this early in the morning, anyway? Were they dating?

It was nearly noon before Seto starting feeling a little bit more like himself. He walked a block down the street to a really out-of-the-way family-owned place and decided that for some reason he was in the mood for steak. This wasn't something he usually went out of his way to eat, but he figured why deny himself? He was even more surprised that he was hungry. The rest of his work day went by a whole lot more smoothly, and he actually felt a little bit more like himself. He still felt pretty tired, but he'd have the weekend to catch up on some sleep. He probably wouldn't go out to drink and just drink at home.

When he got home, Mokuba was easy to find. He was plopped down in front of a video game in his bedroom, and didn't even notice Seto walk in.

"Was your last day of school alright?" he rarely checked in on his younger sibling as far as school was concerned, but made a point to ask about first and last days.

"It was okay I guess. I had only one test to do today and then I called Sephy and had her pick me up. She bought me a smoothie on her way to get me and then we met up with Joey and Yugi so they could sign up for the tournament. I signed up too. Oh, and Sephy asked if you were okay."

He wasn't sure what upset him the most. His brother taking a smoothie from the girl he was pretty sure might've drugged him and possibly just drugged Mokuba? Or how about the fact that she'd picked his brother up from school without asking? There was also the fact that Joey was in the car with his brother, probably filling his head with all sorts of stupid jokes while Yugi most likely couldn't shut up about stupid magic and pharaohs.

"I'm fine."

"You don't _look_ fine, Seto," he paused his game and crossed his arms "you _look_ like you got bitten by a vampire and they drained all your blood. You're really pale and you have dark circles under your eyes and the way you were acting last night...I really hope you don't take Sephy for granted because it's a wonder she even still likes you. You were so mean last night."

What the hell was everyone talking about?! He hadn't said a single word to Sephy last night!

"I'm just tired, and I have no idea what that girl told you, but I don't think she belongs in this house again. Do you understand me? She tried to feed me the same stupid story about how I started yelling at her, and she's just doing exactly what Gozaboro used to do to us. She's just trying to turn us against one another."

Mokuba's jaw dropped, "are you serious right now Seto?! I heard what you said for myself! She's not trying to turn us against each other, _you_ are! I heard you yell at her, I didn't hear all of it but I came out long enough to hear you tell her how much you wished you'd just passed out in the parking lot of that stupid club! And how if you knew she didn't recognize you then you'd never have taken her out to a dinner and that you wished she never became my friend! You were so mean to her and she made _excuses_ for you! She told me you weren't feeling well and it wasn't your fault! But I know the truth!"

"Oh really? Care to explain yourself? You have no idea how I felt last night, and I definitely don't remember saying a single thing you've just told me!" he didn't mean to raise his voice at his brother, but to him this all just felt like lies or trickery.

"You're just a mean person! You hate it any time I have something you don't, and I try not to see it but it's true! You made it so hard for me to have Yugi over and made him not want to bother coming over, and every time I tried to be friends with those guys you always said I'm not allowed or you started arguing with them and making them feel unwelcome! Well, I'm not you! I _like_ that group, and they _are_ my friends. They'd be yours too, if you weren't such a big jerk! And wanna know the worst part? Joey told me about how you started that stupid fight last week at the club and how a girl had to save your butt! So you're telling me I can't hang out with any of them, and I think that's why you don't like Sephy! You just don't want anything to do with Yugi or Joey or any of them."

None of that was true. Well, actually, some of it was true. What wasn't true was the idea that he wouldn't want his brother to be happy. That was the sole reason he was still alive, was to make sure his brother didn't have to grow up like he did. He thought Mokuba would've realized by now that he didn't want to risk having friends because if you get too close to people, they can hurt you. He knew what it was to hurt, and he couldn't deal with that pain again. It would just be too much and it was so much easier to isolate himself than to take that huge risk. Hearing his brother's hardly-true thoughts hurt enough, but the younger teen wasn't finished.

"And it's so sad, too. Even after how you talked to her last night and then trying to scare her this morning, she still tried to stand up for _you_ saying that Joey started that stupid fight in the club. And excused how you acted this morning! I'm just so mad at you for telling me who I can have as friends."

He was still too tired to deal with this and just walked out of his brother's room before things got more heated. He hurt so bad because of what Mokuba was saying to him. It wasn't just that group, he just didn't like _people_. Usually they did nothing without ulterior motives, they lied, they cheated, they were two-faced. He'd never had a real friend, and when he was growing up he never shared interests with the other kids. There was one boy, just for a short time, who he would play chess with at the orphanage. That was the closest thing to a friend he had, and even then, the boy only played with him when none of the other kids wanted to play.

The truth behind why he couldn't stand Yugi and pals was more complex than even his brother realized. When he first met them, he had every intention of trying to get to know them, but when he realized Yugi had something he wanted, something else took over. A part of him that was long gone, but that sometimes he felt resurface slightly. After what he'd done, he felt guilty, but there was no real coming back from that. He couldn't just apologize to him, because that wasn't something he was sincerely capable of doing, and he couldn't pretend nothing had happened even if somehow Yugi could. Joey annoyed him, mostly because of how different they were. They were like people from separate worlds, and Tristan wasn't much different. Téa didn't bother him as much as the boys did, mostly because she had a strong personality and she both knew when to back down and stand up for herself.

He sat down on the couch in the library, not sure if he even felt like reading or not, and tried to remember anything from the night before. He was sure to open a brand new bottle of sake from the fridge before pouring a glass and just sitting there with an unopened book. He'd been trying to think about the night before, then drifted into plans for Mokuba's birthday party, and at some point without realizing it, he was coming up with more ideas for the Duel Disk he was working on. He'd been sitting there for almost two hours without realizing how much time had passed, and he felt a headache starting. He was used to them, since he'd been getting stress-related headaches since before he was a teenager, but it was getting really tiresome to deal with them. He took another drink of sake and he finally picked up his book and started reading it. He wasn't sure if he would be able to focus on it, but it was the only thing he could do right now to try and take his mind off of everything.

He honestly wondered if the stress was making him paranoid and a little bit crazy. Especially over the last couple of months, he'd been feeling more tired than usual, his temper got the best of him lately, and he just hadn't felt like himself. The nightmare he had most recently certainly wasn't the only one of its kind, either. He'd had a lot of dreams like that lately, especially those revolving around the days back when Gozaboro was around. Nightmares playing like instant memory replays, waking up in a panic and not knowing what was real or not.

Gozaboro had always been so careful about where he left marks. Never on the face or hands, cuts administered just deep enough to hurt like hell but not enough so as to require medical treatment. Smiling could end with a severe beating, laughing would be much worse. Falling asleep before study time was over and he had a very special switchblade to fix that problem. Even after Gozaboro killed himself the memories were left as nightmares, they'd always been there, but never happening every few nights. Not like this. They were really taking a mental toll on him.

He wondered if Gozaboro had once been like him at some point and the stress got to him and turned him into the monster he was. It was an awful thought, and he'd never get to the point that Gozaboro was, but he really did feel like he was turning into him. The more he thought about it the more he wondered if between the exhaustion and the alcohol he had been having some sort of vivid dream and had woken up at some point, lashed out without realizing it, and then forgotten. He knew he would have to fix this, if for no other reason for Mokuba. He was really upset by what had taken place, and it was obvious that he wasn't getting rid of this girl anytime soon.

* * *

Seto: Great, another cliché story where I am probably going crazy. Why did you let Harmony touch this chapter?

Harmony: Oh hush, rich-boy. You know you liked it.

Kit: Well, I certainly did! Props to Sephy for not slapping Seto for grabbing at her like that though! r00d

Peggi: Apparently we're successfully throwing our readers for a loop and establishing the love-hate relationship with some of our characters!

Harmony: Super-big thank-you to Aleeah, CannonballZone and me for reviewing! Yay! We are awesome, guys! If you guys have any theories about the story so far, also feel free to add them in with your reviews! I guessed most of them so let's see if you guys can figure any of the nifty plot twists out too!


	6. The Devil is in the Details

Quick Recap: After a vivid and slightly terrifying nightmare, Seto finds out he is either losing time or paranoid, and forgetting certain interactions with other people. Mokuba gets a lot closer to Sephy and the Mokuba/Joey/Sephy friendship starts to frustrate Seto. After an unwanted encounter with Sephy, Seto has concerns that she may be wanting to hurt Mokuba or has possibly been drugging he or maybe both of them.

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! nor do we own the items or settings where this story takes place. All we own is the idea for this nifty little story and our original characters. Please don't sue, as all you will get from us is a nearly empty bag of stale chips and a catnip mouse whose nose may or may not have been eaten by the cats.

_**Title: Clarity**_  
_**Chapter: The Devil is in the Details**_  
_**Chapter Written By: Peggi, Kit, & Resa**_

* * *

Saturday passed just like almost any other Saturday for Seto, minus Mokuba's typical pestering. He was still angry with his brother and didn't so much as look at him when he walked past his bedroom that morning. Seto just rolled his eyes at Mokuba's cold-shoulder attitude, and sat down for breakfast. He poked through his eggs but felt nauseated even thinking about eating them. He really was getting tired of rarely feeling hungry and when he was, only being able to eat a small amount. A huge part of that came from being raised to expect to be hit if he ate too fast, stress from studying and then work ruining his appetite, and lately the stress was so bad that if he ate too much he would get sick.

He took a few sips of his coffee and suddenly remembered the warning, but brushed it off. She was probably trying to get in his head. He forced down a couple of bites of egg and waited for his coffee to be refilled before taking his cup with him into the home office. He decided that today would be a good day to actually set the plans for Mokuba's birthday party. It was in exactly one week, and while invitations would be left up to Mokuba, he wanted to at least make sure that everything else was set. Mokuba had decided that since he was getting older and most of his classmates no longer could appreciate the more at-ease locations, he wanted to have his party at KaibaLand. Rollercoasters and other theme-park related adventures were more his thing now anyway, and Seto decided to close the whole park down to the public for the day. It was a Saturday, which meant they would be losing a lot of business, but for Mokuba's important day, it wouldn't matter.

He sent out the emails to ensure the park would only be open to Mokuba's guests and started looking online for addresses to some cake shops. Mokuba had always loved chocolate lava cake, and he wanted to find a place that could make him one for a birthday. He jotted down a few of the addresses and phone numbers and moved on to decorations. He'd been caught up in making the plans that he didn't realize that a few hours had passed. He decided to go look at cakes and had made a few calls and thought he knew which bakery he would do business with. This was one of the things he wouldn't leave up to his own staff, because he wanted to surprise the brat, and he knew Mokuba would investigate the kitchen and harass the staff about it.

He paged Roland and the car was waiting in the driveway by the time he got outside. Roland opened the door for him and Seto handed him a piece of paper he had scribbled the address onto.

"I need to go to this address."

"Yes, Mr. Kaiba."

Seto checked his emails on the drive to the bakery and saw a reply from Mai, who had seen the agent the day before. She apparently liked the concepts and was happy to attend a photoshoot on Monday to promote the new simulation game. It was, of course, Duel Monsters themed, but this time, players got to choose their favorite Duel Monster as their character. He hated to admit it, but he'd stolen the idea from Noah when they were trapped in his virtual world, but rather than having a Deck Master, you would _be_ the Deck Master. Sure, it was recycled in a way, but he had to admit, the idea was still good.

Seto would be at the photoshoot to supervise, but he wouldn't really have much contact with Mai. He was grateful, since her flirtatious and overly-cheery attitude irritated him to no end. He also had some emails from investors wanting to set up meetings with him which he ignored, as he had a secretary they should be contacting, and correspondence from Duke Devlin. The game inventor had done pretty well selling his idea of Dungeon Dice Monsters, and while Industrial Illusions had helped him get started, he was finally deciding to branch out. He had some new additions to his game and was hoping that he could pull a favor with Seto and they could work on some holographic technology to improve what he had already created.

Seto didn't delete the email, but figured he probably wouldn't look into it. The car pulled into the bakery's parking lot and Seto walked inside. The owner had been expecting him after his call, and had been sure to inform the staff to be extra nice to him. He could tell, because they all flocked over to him, and he honestly would've preferred indifference to being surrounded as though they were rabid fans who needed to be carted off.

"Mr. Kaiba, thanks for taking time out of your day to come in and see what we have to offer!" the owner gave him a toothy grin.

"My brother is turning fourteen next Saturday and I was told that you would be able to make and deliver the cake. I've written down the specifications and it will be Capmon-themed. Do you think you can handle that?" he asked, handing over a list of instructions regarding style, size and how he wanted it to look.

The owner smiled at him, eyes sparkling with excitement for their location being chosen for this job, "oh, absolutely! It says that it is to be delivered by 1pm, it will be there at exactly that time!"

After a few necessary exchanges and a check written, Seto was able to leave fairly quickly. He was grateful and decided to spend the rest of the day in his home-office working on concepts for some new games for the company. He hadn't done anything too physically draining, but by evening he felt absolutely worn out. Mokuba must've still been irritated with him, because he ended up eating dinner alone. Typically he would've been a little unhappy about it, but with his headache, he was grateful to not have to hear his younger sibling chastise him or complain.

Once he'd eaten enough to satisfy him, he debated whether he should go out to drink or just stay at home and decided that home would be much more comfortable. In his room, he changed into a loose-fitting shirt and sweatpants, passing Mokuba's room on the way back downstairs. The teen was absorbed in some movie or TV show where apparently two men were discussing where God was, and one suggested he was in a place called New Mexico on a tortilla, and the other disagreed, stating that he was not on any flat-bread. Seto almost wanted to know what sort of nonsense his brother was rotting his brain with, but thought better of walking into the room.

He had no real interest in reading anything in particular and decided to just read a physics book, pouring a generous glass of sake to go with it. He'd been reading for at least a couple of hours before he decided he was too tired to even read. He laid in bed for what seemed like hours, never able to find a completely comfortable position to lay in, his headache now worse and making it hard to lay still. He reached in the dark for an Aspirin when he felt something - no, some_one_ standing right next to the bed.

He didn't hesitate to jump out of bed on the opposite side and flip on the light, quickly looking around for some type of weapon. When he saw who it was he had to blink a few times to make sure he was seeing who he was seeing.

"Noah?"

"Hi there, Seto," the other boy smiled widely at him.

"How can you be here? You're dead..."

"Well, if memory serves me correctly, I was technically dead the last time we met as well."

"Yes, but your mind was trapped in a virtual world. Unless I'm mistaken, I haven't gone into any virtual realities in quite some time."

Noah just shrugged and laughed, grabbing something off of the nightstand, "I think you were looking for these?" Noah held out the bottle Seto had been reaching for initially and tossed it to him.

Seto caught the bottle but didn't take his eyes off of Noah, "even if you somehow managed to find your way out of the virtual world, had it not been destroyed, why would you be here?"

"Other than this being the only real home I've ever known, you mean? It's my house too, Seto, and I can be here if I want to. I'm not actually here for that reason, though."

"So again I ask, Noah, why are you here?" Seto was becoming impatient.

"Details, Seto. Little details. It's unfortunate that you don't pay very close attention to them."

The room suddenly felt several degrees warmer and it was almost uncomfortable. Seto wouldn't have felt like playing childish games with Noah in the first place, but he was so warm from the temperature change that he felt himself sweating. Noah just stared at him from the other side of the bed, a strange smile on his face.

"What details? You know what, nevermind. Just get your ass out of this house before I have security arrest you!"

"Perhaps if you didn't spend all of your time treating people poorly and spent more time connecting things you would be far less confused by my visit."

Seto was about to come back with a witty retort but was cut short when Noah smiled again, a faint trickle of blood evident coming from the corner of his mouth. For no reason that could be seen, the boy just began laughing at him, and Seto could see the blood in his mouth. It looked as though he'd been hit. Just as Seto was about to walk over and make sure the intruder wasn't truly injured, he jolted awake, realizing he'd just been having another weird dream. Still, nothing he would consider to be unusual, but not like the ones he was used to. This was far more vivid and not so much based on past events like the ones he was used to.

He spent the rest of the night staring at the ceiling and trying to get the image of Noah bleeding out of his mind. He didn't manage to fall asleep for the rest of the night. The next morning he got out of bed with so little sleep he felt like he had taken sleeping pills. He somehow made his way to the bathroom for a shower that didn't help wake him up like he'd hoped. He decided that since Mokuba had been bothering him all week to go to Burger World he would use Sunday to take him. He could easily get some work done while they were there and Mokuba would be too absorbed in his food to care if he wasn't being paid attention to.

After getting dressed he located Mokuba in the theater room watching a movie. When he saw his brother in the doorway he seemed to have already forgotten that he was supposed to be ignoring him.

"Hey, Seto."

"I have some things I need to get done this morning but I thought that this afternoon we could go to Burger World for lunch," he informed his younger sibling before turning around and walking away.

Mokuba watched as his brother abruptly left and just rolled his eyes. He had grown used to the quick, matter-of-fact ways his brother would explain plans for the day but internally always felt it was still pretty rude. He looked back to his movie when he heard a little ring come from his laptop, letting him know he had a notification on facebook. He grabbed the laptop that was sitting next to him and saw that Joey had sent him a message. He opened it and smiled when the message told him that Joey wanted to hang out with him that day. He quickly responded, telling him that he had plans with his brother at Burger World for lunch but that he should be free either that evening or any time during the week.

Once he sent the message he absentmindedly scrolled through his news-feed, seeing updates from all of his friends. Most of the newer posts were about the upcoming tournament and one of his friends had posted a link listing all of the cards that would be awarded as prizes. He checked it out and some of them were pretty good, but nothing special. He was about to close out and get back to watching his movie when an update caught his eye. It wasn't the topic itself that interested him, as much as the fact that it had Sephy's name in the description.

He pulled up the page it linked to and read through the article, taking in a deep breath and wondering if he should bring it up to her or not. He decided to leave it alone, but knew he was going to worry about what he'd read for a very long time. Especially if he happened to see her again, which he likely would, as he knew she would be coming to his birthday party the following weekend.

* * *

Kit: I believe this chapter partly-answered two questions we had in reviews.

Seto: Will you idiots stop writing in terrible dream sequences?

Resa: No. It's relevant to the plot.

Peggi: I made Mokie watch Supernatural! Because Supernatural (which we don't own) is awesome! And the Cas/Dean reference needed to be done.

Kit: So thank you super much to our reviewers CannonballZone and a guest reviewer as well as the PM we got! Remember, reviews make updates come faster and make authoresses happy! I'll end this now before Peggi gets any ideas for some Destiel fanfiction and puts this one on hiatus!


	7. Learning to Fall

Quick Recap: Seto finalizes the plans for Mokuba's birthday party and Mokuba continues to ignore him for a short while which seems to be fine by him. He has another vivid yet terrifying dream, this time revolving around Noah, who he has an odd conversation with. He then watches as Noah die right before his eyes, the same gory death he'd seen in his previous dream about Sephy. He sets up plans with Mokuba to go to Burger World so that he can get some work done and Mokuba seems to be over his cold-shoulder attitude, at least for now. Meanwhile, Mokuba discovers what can only be assumed to be some deep dark secret about Sephy, which he decides to keep to himself, for at least the time being.

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! nor do we own the items or settings where this story takes place. All we own is the idea for this nifty little story and our original characters. Please don't sue, as all you will get from us is a 'Keep Calm and Ship Destiel' car decal that Peggi might bite your fingers to keep.

_**Title: Clarity**_  
_**Chapter: Learning to Fall**_  
_**Chapter Written By: Peggi**_

Mokuba barely allowed enough time for the car to stop before hopping out and running up to the doors of Burger World. Unlike his brother, who could barely even stand the smell of the place, much-less the food, it was one of Mokuba's favorite places to go. Mokuba crossed his arms and tapped his foot impatiently when he got to the front door, watching Seto walk at what felt like an impossibly slow pace to the younger boy. Once they were finally inside and seated, Mokuba seemed a lot happier as a waitress approached them with menus. Mokuba always ordered the same thing, yet every single time he insisted on reading through the menu. Seto felt like it was a waste of time, but he'd given up explaining that he was just going to order a burger and cheese fries and that he didn't understand the point.

Seto just ordered a salad and made a face when Mokuba ordered his usual, which earned him Mokuba's best attempt at a glare.

"What?" Mokuba snapped at him, referring to the look he'd come to expect each and every time.

"Nothing, I just don't know how you can eat that sort of thing. You know that, Mokuba."

"Yeah, well not everyone likes rabbit food, you know!"

Seto just rolled his eyes at his brother, "rabbits aren't supposed to eat lettuce. This is why I won't let you have a pet. You'd probably kill it."

"Oh, so even rabbits won't touch the stuff you eat."

"Mokuba, can we not do this? I don't feel like arguing with you."

Mokuba's expression softened when he realized his brother really just wasn't feeling well. Secretly, he'd been worried about him for quite some time now, but he didn't dare say anything. He figured Seto wouldn't take it too well even if he did, and it's not like it would make a difference. After a few minutes of silence, Seto had pulled some paperwork out of his briefcase and was busy studying them, so Mokuba sat back and casually started watching people. He saw other kids playing some of the games that were in the restaurant, people excitedly eating their meals, everyone was having a lot of fun.

Mokuba turned to his brother to ask if he could go play some games, but noticed that he was invested in whatever it was he was working on, so he figured he would be back before Seto even noticed he was gone. He slipped out of the stall they were seated in and headed off.

Seto noticed immediately when Mokuba slid out of the booth and headed off in the direction of the games. He didn't say anything, knowing that at least this way Mokuba would have fun and he would have the freedom to finish reviewing the reports he'd brought with him. He glanced back down at the papers in front of him and did his best to ignore the chatting of adults, the loud kids running around, or the sound of the games around him. He didn't realize how long he'd been reading over them and correcting things until the waitress brought their orders and sat them down on the table in front of him.

Looking up, Seto tried to locate his brother, who had already noticed the food being brought to their table. He was grateful that he didn't have to hunt him down, but far less grateful to see who was tagging along.

"I thought we just had a discussion about my not allowing you to keep pets?" Seto didn't even look at Mokuba as he spoke, and instead kept his narrowed eyes on Joey.

"Look rich boy, I-"

Mokuba quickly cut them both off, "guys! Please just cut it out! Seto, you're busy doing your work anyway, and Joey just wanted to stop by and hang out with me. You two can just ignore each other, just for a little bit, can't you? There doesn't have to be some huge, stupid fight every time you're in the same room!"

Who did he think he was talking to? These were probably the two most stubborn men in all of Domino City, and neither of them could stand the other. Out of respect for Mokuba, however, they kept their fight to the occasional death-glare from across the table while Joey and Mokuba talked. Mokuba was just grateful that they weren't throwing around insults, so he decided to take what little peace between the two he could get.

"So Mokuba, you entering that new tournament?"

"Yeah," Mokuba sighed "I thought about signing up tomorrow. I guess you and Yugi are going to enter too?"

"Me and Yug signed up this mornin'! Looks like it should be fun. The cards aren't all that good but didja hear about the secret prize?"

Mokuba shook his head, as he had an entire mouthful of burger but definitely was interested in what this prize was.

"Apparently the top 5 duelists win these really awesome Duel Monsters collectors items that are one of a kind. Nobody knows what they are but I bet they're pretty awesome if they're one of a kind!"

For the rest of the time Mokuba was eating, Seto occasionally listened in on their conversation which mostly consisted of the tournament. From time to time he'd catch bits and pieces of Battle City, but really wasn't all that interested in what they had to say. It wasn't until they stopped talking completely that he really noticed anything. He glanced up and noticed that they were both looking at him, and he was instantly annoyed.

"What?!" he set the papers he was almost finished with in front of him, slamming them more than actually setting them down.

"Seto, are you okay?" Mokuba asked, the worried tone instantly being realized.

Even Joey had a slight look of concern, "your nose is bleeding, man. And I didn't even hit you this time."

Seto ignored the grin Joey was holding back, remembering the ass-kicking at the strip club no doubt, and grabbed a napkin from the table. Both boys were completely silent, and the fact that they were just staring at him was what bothered him the most. Holding the napkin in place with one hand and grabbing his paperwork to put away with the other, Seto stood, grabbing his briefcase.

"I'm fine, now can we go? You're finished and I don't feel like sitting around here so the two of you can just chat."

Mokuba just nodded and followed his brother, not wanting to argue with him, "later, Joey!" With a quick wave to his friend, the two headed home, Mokuba growing increasingly concerned about his stubborn brother.

The rest of the week was pretty uneventful, at least up until Friday. Seto woke up feeling absolutely miserable, and had decided to take the day off of work which was rare. He spent most of the day attempting to rest, which for him lasted for maybe an hour before working in the home office. He didn't feel like eating and he didn't feel like dealing with his brother, so he stayed locked away all day. Mokuba had come in a couple of times to check in on him, but was quickly shooed away.

Saturday rolled around, and it was Mokuba's birthday party. Even though Seto had hardly slept and didn't feel any better than the day before, he refused to let his brother down, and so he got out of bed and headed to KaibaLand to make sure that everything was being set up properly. Minus the staff, the place was completely bare. The rides were all being tested early so that nothing would need to be shut down mid-day, and there were decorations and games being set up everywhere.

Everything looked like it was in place, and half an hour before everyone was supposed to arrive, Mokuba showed up with Roland.

"Wow, Seto! This all looks great! I love it!" Mokuba looked like a little kid in a candy store, and the look on his face made Seto smile, even if it was just a tiny one.

Everything arrived just on time, and about twenty minutes later, Mokuba's guests started to arrive. Seto stood by and made sure that everything went according to the plans he'd set up, and once almost everyone was there, he decided to take a break from it all and go into the employee lounge. Mokuba was busy talking to his friends and dragging some of them onto rides, everyone seemed to be having a lot of fun and eating the food the caterers had brought in, and Seto felt there was no more use for him there. He was grateful to be in the quiet of the employee lounge. He'd brought a book to read and poured some coffee, sitting down to try and relax.

A couple of hours had gone by and Mokuba noticed he hadn't seen his brother for a while, but knew he probably had made an escape to one of the back rooms, avoiding the chaos. He decided to get something to eat and noticed Sephy playing pinball. She'd just lost when he approached her, and he rested his arms, crossed, on top of the pinball machine.

"Not very good at this game, are you?" he laughed at her.

"Not really!" she laughed too, giving the game an annoyed look, "so, this is a really cool party. I haven't been on a rollercoaster since I was pretty young!"

"Yeah, I told Seto I wanted to have a _cool_ party this year, no more kid places. I'm a teenager now, so I want to start having _real_ parties."

"Oh, _real_ parties, huh?" she ruffled his hair, earning an irritated look as he fixed it back, "you mean with pizza and beer and strippers?"

"Yeah," he laughed again "that would go over _so_ well with my brother. I won't tell him you said that."

"Like he could possibly like me any less, right? So, how's he been, anyway?"

"Well, now that you mention it," he looked down to his feet and wasn't sure if he should even bring it up "I've been kinda worried about him. He hasn't been acting like himself lately. He's been zoning out a lot and I know he isn't sleeping well. I mean, he didn't exactly sleep like a normal person anyway, but even less now. And he's not eating right, either. Look, I know...I know who you are. I mean, I saw that article, I saw your name. I know you _must_ know what's going on with my brother."

Sephy's face went completely pale as though she'd just seen something that terrified her, and Mokuba could tell that she was extremely uncomfortable and even nervous. She shifted uncomfortably and her hand went straight up to the necklace she was wearing and she started to fidget with it.

"Have...have you told your brother about it?"

"No, and I won't. He doesn't need something else to stress over, he already doesn't want me hanging out with any of you guys. But I have a favor to ask."

Seto was really into his book and when he heard a knock at the door, he jumped a little bit. He stood, an irritated look on his face, and closed the book. He was in the employee lounge, but none of the people working there that day should be on break this early in the day, and so whoever it was would be in a lot of trouble for trying to take an early break. When he opened the door, however, he felt like slamming it right away. Any thoughts about doing so were cut off when Sephy just barged right in without so much as an invite.

"What do _you_ want? You're not supposed to be back here!" he snapped at her.

"Yeah, well the birthday boy wanted to make sure his big brother ate, so he told me to bring you a sandwich and make sure you actually ate it."

She placed a plate with a small sandwich and some chips on the table. He closed the door but didn't lock it, hoping that she didn't intend to actually stay and watch him to make sure he tried to eat, more annoyed when she sat down.

"I don't need a babysitter, and I don't need to be fed. You can leave."

"Sure seems like you need a babysitter. You seem to throw a lot of tantrums when you don't get your way," she grabbed a chip from the plate and ate it, causing his eye to twitch.

"Well if you thought I wasn't going to eat before, I'm certainly not going to now that you've touched it."

"Oh, like you were going to eat it in the first damn place," she gave a sarcastic laugh and grabbed another chip from the plate.

"You don't know me at all, so don't make assumptions. Now, you can tell my brother I've eaten and I'm fine, and you can get out."

She simply leaned back in the chair and relaxed, lacing her fingers behind her head and staring up at the ceiling, "so, you gonna stand there all day or get back to your book?"

No wonder she was dating Wheeler, she was just as annoying in Seto's opinion. He considered grabbing her and physically dragging her out, but not only didn't want to ruin his brother's party, but also didn't feel like he had the strength.

"If you're going to sit there, at least keep your mouth shut and leave me alone."

He sat back down and tried to ignore her eyes on him as he read. This lasted for all of five minutes before he finally sighed and put the book back on the table.

"What are you reading, anyway?" she asked, rudely grabbing the book from the table without asking and reading the cover, "Sherlock Holmes? Didn't take you for a fan of-"

He grabbed the book out of her hands, "my reading material isn't any of your business, either."

She just rolled her eyes in return, "what, so I'm the Moriarty to your Holmes? 'Cause you really seem to hate me."

He was a bit surprised she could even make that sort of reference to him, but didn't let on that he even cared, "I hate the fact that you seem to always be around me or my brother. I hate the fact that I can't make you understand that I don't want you to talk to me, I don't want you to try and feed me, and I don't want your input on what I read. I hate the fact that you can't take a hint and just get out of here. I allowed Mokuba to invite you to this party because I wanted him to enjoy his time here, and I didn't want to let my personal opinions of the trash he chooses to hang out with ruin that for him."

Sephy swallowed hard, trying not to let the insult he'd just thrown at her put her in some childish fit of rage, but she honestly felt like slapping him. He could see that he'd gotten to her, and that only made him feel like he'd finally somehow won. He wasn't sure _what_ he'd won, but he was happy about it either way. That, unfortunately, didn't mean that he was finished.

"The fact that you hang around those losers you call friends just further proves this to me, and I can definitely see how much like that mutt you are. You and Wheeler are both the same, and I should've known from the second I saw the two of you together that you'd be just as rude and arrogant as he is."

That had definitely done it. Sephy stood, not really sure what she wanted to do, but she really wanted to fight back somehow. She wanted to throw something or break something, preferably the face of the jerk who was insulting her and treating her like, well, trash. Instead, she did the only thing she could do, and yelled at him.

"You know what?! For your information, I only came in here because your brother is worried about you! I stopped caring about you after that morning when you went and put your hands on me! You're just some asshole who is messed up in the head and treats everyone around him like they don't matter! Well guess what? You're alone because nobody can stand being around you, and you'll always _be_ alone! One day Mokuba is going to move on, he's gonna find a girl and he's going to leave you and you're going to die some bitter old man with nothing left to live for! It'll be nobody's fault but your own! You don't want to listen to reason, and you don't want to accept help when it's offered!"

"I don't _want_ your help! I never _asked_ for your help!" he stood too, hoping that it would somehow intimidate her into leaving now before it escalated.

"Yeah, I can see that you don't. Go ahead, keep doing things exactly the way you are and get sicker and sicker. Just send yourself to an early grave, see if I even care! You mean _nothing_ to me! I should've left you in the parking lot that day, I should've let Joey go outside just like he wanted to and let him beat your face in! You would've deserved it!"

"Oh, but that would take all the fun out of trying to kill me yourself, now wouldn't it?"

The stunned expression was so clear that it didn't take someone like Seto to notice it, "why do you keep saying crap like that?! Why are you so paranoid? You think that every time someone becomes Mokuba's friend they're out to kill you?"

"No, moron. Your little warning in the dining room that morning. What, did you change your mind and decide to find another way to poison me?"

Sephy growled in frustration, both hands balled into fists and all of her energy being used to not use them, "you're impossible! You're insane! I'm not trying to poison you, and I never was, you idiot!"

Now Seto was the one who wanted to break or throw something, "then why the hell would you have made that comment to me?!"

"Because it's not good to drink coffee when you have anemia, asshole! I was just trying to help!"

And Seto was completely floored, "anemia? What are you talking about?"

Sephy's demeanor softened when she realized he genuinely didn't understand what she meant, "you did know you were anemic, didn't you?"

No, obviously he didn't, "what would give you the idea that I was?"

"Oh, I don't know. Maybe how pale you are, how exhausted and totally run-down you look all the time, when I brought you home from the club that night and you were practically sleeping on top of me your hands felt like ice. Just a lot of things I've noticed, plus some stuff your brother said to me. You really didn't know?"

He sat back down, and she followed suit. He watched her face and body language, looking for any sign that she might be lying to him, but from what he could see, she seemed to be telling him the truth. He wasn't even sure what to say or how to react at that very moment.

"No, I had no idea. I haven't exactly been myself lately, but I assumed it was just the stress of my job," why would he say something like that?

"Well, obviously there's something else going on, and it's probably from you not eating right. Your body isn't getting enough iron. You really need to take better care of yourself. When did you last eat? I mean, not a couple bites here and there like at the restaurant, I mean a real _meal_?"

That took a moment to think about, "I guess Thursday. Look, I really meant what I said about not needing a babysitter. You don't have to treat me like I'm a child and ask about my-"

"Obviously I do. If I didn't, we wouldn't be having this conversation. 'I guess Thursday' isn't a good answer either, Kaiba. If you really have to stop and think about it, you haven't eaten something decent in a while."

"Fine," he pulled the plate towards him "I'll eat this if you'll just leave me alone now."

"No," she pulled the plate back towards her "not something like this. Something with red meat, if you want to start to feel better. How about we head out for a little bit and get you some _real _food. We'll be back before presents and cake."

Seto sighed, realizing that there really was no arguing with this annoying, persistent girl. No arguing at all. Especially when she'd already dragged him out the door before he could register what was going on.

* * *

Peggi: Hey! Where did all our reviewers go?! We did get one for the last chapter, and thank you Katie! We're glad that you love the story so much and that you like Sephy so far! Sorry we blew your 'Sephy is patient' comment out of the water, though. It had to be done, but at least now she's back to being nice! I also have to say that I fangirled that we share an OTP! You made my day! Oh, and a review from another site made my day too. So I had to share _"I love this story! I love the drama, the stress, and the conflicts for sure. It all pieces together so nicely, it's a wonderful piece pf literature! Keep writing, please, I've become dedicated!"_ really. It was so sweet it made me cry!

Seto: Anemia? Really?

Peggi: Yeah, and don't you insult our fanfic either, mister. I've never seen this done before and that's not even the big super-awesome-dramatic secret reveal, either! We're just getting started!

Seto: Whatever. Just post this so I can go home.

Peggi: You know you miss us when you're gone. Hey! That needs to be a chapter title!

Devy: Review, people! Or we'll be sad!


	8. Take a Minute

Quick Recap: Mokuba's worries increase about Seto's health when the two of them (plus Joey) end up at Burger World for lunch, and things start to get a little more concerning as time passes over the week. Concerned about Seto, Mokuba convinces Sephy to intervene and just when both of their tempers are about to cause some problems, Seto realizes Sephy wasn't there to hurt him or his brother. She convinces him (whether he wanted to or not) to start changing some things to keep him from feeling so sick all the time, and starts dragging him off to go get some _real_ food.

Disclaimer: We do not own Yu-Gi-Oh! nor do we own the items or settings where this story takes place. All we own is the idea for this nifty little story and our original characters. Please don't sue, as all you will get from us is an almost empty bottle of Sprite and an empty box of Pocky.

_**Title: Clarity**_  
_**Chapter: Take a Minute**_  
_**Chapter Written By: Peggi & Devy (a little bit)**_

Sephy led Seto into the parking lot and towards her car, and while he didn't particularly want to make this little venture away from the party, he figured it couldn't hurt to follow her advice. She _had_ been the one to try to give him advice, and he had to admit that something had been wrong for a while and he didn't even realize it. The drive to where they were headed was short, and she parked outside of a small restaurant that he'd never noticed before. Once inside, he realized right away that it was a small steakhouse, and the smell of the food made him realize he was definitely hungrier than he realized.

They were seated almost right away, and the place wasn't too crowded for a Saturday, so he didn't feel too stressed out from being out in public like that. They were given their menus, and Seto and Sephy both ordered steak, and as he eyed the decor, he asked a question that was currently bothering him.

"Why are you doing this? You said you don't care about me or what happens to me, so why bother bringing me here?"

Sephy sighed, "you just don't get it, do you? Look, you're obviously new to this, so let me make it simple. You really ticked me off back there, you got under my skin, so of course I said that. But I do care, and I still worry. I'm Mokuba's friend, and if you weren't such a jerk, I would be your friend too. In case you haven't noticed, I'm not exactly easy to chase off or get rid of."

"Believe me, I've noticed."

"So look, now that you know I'm not some serial killer trying to slip you something weird in your morning coffee, why don't we start all of this over. If nothing else, we should try to be civil, because I really like hanging out with your little brother, and I'd like it if we could get along at least."

He had to admit, he might've even tolerated her a whole lot more if he hadn't thought she was out to get him from almost the start of it. He'd let his strange dreams and his feeling sick influence his opinion of her. She was pushy and definitely lacking in some of her manners, but at least she was honest as far as he could tell, and she really did care for his brother. She had to, if she was willing to take what he'd thrown at her already. She had some good points to her, though. She stood up for herself and was able to hold her own when he argued with her, she didn't back down and was very determined. Whether that was the extent of her knowledge of literature or not, he also at least could appreciate the fact that she had at least read _one_ good book that he enjoyed reading.

"Fine, but you need to respect my personal space from here on. No grabbing things from me without my permission, and don't ever touch my food again whether you think I want it or not. No more cryptic warnings about my health, either. You're welcome to visit with Mokuba whenever you please, but my space is my own and I don't want you invading it."

"Fine, I can do that. Just no more insulting me like you did at the party, because that really wasn't okay."

"Okay, that's fine. Just don't bring that boyfriend of yours around. I can't stand him."

Sephy stared at him for a few seconds, trying to understand his words as though he'd spoken a foreign language, "boyfriend? What boyfriend?"

"Alright, if you don't have a title for it, whatever you want to call him. Wheeler. I don't want to see him around the mansion. Is that clear?"

Sephy burst into a fit of laughter, covering her mouth in an attempt to quiet herself. Seto just stared at her, quickly looking around the room and hoping she wasn't drawing too much attention. He didn't understand what was so funny, but she was starting to annoy him again.

"You...you think," she had to stop to laugh again "that Joey is my _boyfriend_?"

Seto watched her and waited impatiently for her to finish laughing, wanting to grab her and shake her when she didn't stop right away. Eventually she caught her breath and let out a deep breath, taking another in to calm herself before she spoke again.

"So you think that Joey and I are _dating_? Seriously? Mokuba didn't tell you?"

"Tell me what?" he asked as dryly as he possibly could.

"Wow, ew, sorry no. Uh yeah, Joey is my _cousin_. Me and Joey? Together? So much _no_ to that thought that it's...okay yeah it's totally funny."

A part of Seto wanted to be proud that even the thought of her dating him sent her into a fit of laughter, but the fact that they were related almost made him feel sick with her. He didn't know which scenario was worse, but everything he'd thought since he had met her had to be reprocessed. She had been there at the club that night with him, not as his date, but as his cousin. She had tried to get Joey to stop harassing him, because clearly she knew him well enough to know that Joey wouldn't let up on his own. Then, a little bit of regret crossed his mind when Seto realized in his attempt to insult Joey, he'd essentially called Sephy a hooker. Still, even after that she'd stopped the fight, and apparently prevented Joey from leaving to continue it after he'd walked out. Everything after that also came back to him, seeing it in a whole new light.

"You alright in there?" she asked, waving her hand in front of his face.

He caught her wrist for just a moment to stop her, "don't do that. I just had a lot to think about. So you're related to the-" he cut himself off and realized she already knew where that sentence was going, "related to Wheeler?"

"Yeah," she forced herself to ignore what he was going to say, glad that he at least corrected himself "I bounced around a lot growing up and there's some family stuff going on, so I had to move here to try and help out. I was actually only here for a few days when you two got into that fight."

"I notice you have an accent, so I assume you moved from somewhere a bit farther away?" he was shocked by his own actual interest.

"Yeah, I mean I've grown up all over. England, America, Canada, I spent a little time here once in a while. Not in Domino, but close by. I was home-schooled for most of my life, since I had to bounce around a lot. I spent most of my time alone at home, so I did a lot of reading. That book you were reading, it was actually one of my favorites."

"I'm surprised you would read something like that. I don't know a lot of people our age who would care for some of the classics."

"I love a lot of different books, classics included. I'm a few years older than you, actually, but you're right. Most of my friends couldn't really get into them. So, what other books do you read?"

He almost said 'nothing you would be interested in', but now he was curious as to whether or not that were true, "believe it or not, Jane Austen, Mark Twain, I read a lot of text books, as well."

"Such as?"

"Physics, mostly," he shrugged, not really able to think of something specific and not wanting to get too much into explaining all of it to her.

"Ah, a physics fan huh? So, Loop quantum gravity or String theory?"

Seto just blinked at her, once again feeling completely floored, "String, mostly," he replied, almost sounding unsure of himself because he couldn't believe this conversation was happening.

"Yeah, it's harder to prove, but I agree. Well, hey, if you ever want to discuss that sort of thing with me, I haven't done a ton of reading on it all myself, but I can at least follow if not participate in the conversation."

The conversation. This really was happening? Seto had never actually sat down with another person and had this sort of discussion. Most of the people he'd talked to about this sort of thing were twice their age at least, mostly well-paid business men, scientists, not girls who were related to people he couldn't stand who watched movies with his brother and wrestled over pizza. She was definitely more than meets the eye, and while he was completely uncomfortable with the situation when they'd first arrived, he was almost enjoying being there. He wouldn't go as far as saying that he _liked_ her company, but he certainly didn't _mind_ it.

"So," he wanted to know what else they had in common and almost regretted not talking to her the first time they were at dinner together "what other things are you interested in?"

"Um, well, a lot of things. You'd have to be more specific, I guess. I dabble in a lot of things, I mean I like to have fun no matter where I am or what I'm doing, I like outdoorsy things like camping or rock climbing, I'm into thrill-seeking so I used to surf and snowboard. Not a big party person but I _love_ to dance at clubs, and I'm sure I can drink you or anyone else you know under the table. I draw, sometimes I write, I love watching movies of course, but you knew that. I play video games, I swim which your brother said he wants to do with me this summer. I dabble in Duel Monsters, I play chess from time to time, I-"

"Wait, chess? _You_ play chess?"

She shrugged and took a sip of her water, "yeah, from time to time. Why, you play too?"

Memories as far back as he could remember consisted of him playing the game. It was _his_ game. Duel Monsters was something he was good at, but chess was his passion. It was, after all, the game that he even beat Gozaboro Kaiba at in order to force him to adopt he and Mokuba, just by memorizing his strategies.

"I used to play often, but I haven't in years."

She shrugged again, "I'm not all that great at the game, but if you ever want to play, just let me know. Can't promise I'll be much of an opponent, but you never know. It could still be fun."

It was definitely an idea, whether it was one he'd go through with or not. On the inside, he smiled, thinking about how proud Mokuba would be if he knew that his brother was having a real conversation with a real person, discussing common interests and even enjoying it a little. He would've kept the conversation going, but their food arrived just then, so it was cut short.

Seto actually managed to eat everything he'd ordered, and even though he felt a little nauseated, he figured since he'd hardly eaten anything in a while, that was to be expected. When he finally returned his attention to Sephy, she looked lost in thought and was just staring down at her empty plate.

"You know, if you're still hungry I'm not in any rush to get back. Mokuba's cake won't be arriving for a bit longer."

"What? Oh, no, I'm good. I just got lost in my head for a minute," she smiled but Seto could tell that something was bothering her, but he didn't push the issue.

Neither of them spoke another word on the way back to the party and Seto wasn't sure if it was just equally as awkward for her as it was for him at that point, or if something was just bothering her. Once they got back inside Mokuba was easy to spot, and Seto decided to stand against one of the walls and watch his brother enjoying his party.

* * *

Peggi: Now we get into friendshippy feels! Yay! Hope you guys are liking it so far!


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